Mumbai, May 10: The Mumbai civic body on Sunday said it was recording the number of COVID-19 deaths as per the protocol laid down by the WHO and ICMR and denied allegations of fudging the data, a day after BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis accused the Shiv Sena-led corporation of under-reporting the fatalities and "manipulating" the infection rate in the city.

In a statement, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said it was completely transparent in reporting the number of COVID-19 fatalities, cases, and in conducting the tests. Maharashtra Reports 48,401 New COVID-19 Cases, 572 Deaths in Past 24 Hours; Mumbai Cases Dip Further to 2,395.

The civic body rejected the criticism that it was creating a false picture that the pandemic situation in Mumbai was being brought under control.

"The allegation is completely baseless and the BMC administration rejects it. COVID-19 testing and recording of deaths due to the infection were being done as per the criteria laid down by the WHO and ICMR," it said.

The BMC said the civic administration was committed to "mission zero" which aims to bring the pandemic under control step by step.

In a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis had said the BMC was attributing the deaths of some COVID-19 patients to 'other reasons' and thus suppressing the real toll of the viral infection.

The Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly had also alleged the BMC was manipulating the infection rate by relying more on Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT).

Notably, the Supreme Court had recently praised the Mumbai civic body for managing the second wave of the pandemic efficiently.

With the addition of 2,403 cases on Sunday, Mumbai's COVID-19 tally rose to 6,76,475, while 68 deaths pushed the toll to 13,817, an official said.

It was the second consecutive day that the country's financial capital saw a daily addition of less than 3,000 cases.

A total of 3,375 people were discharged during the day, raising the overall recovery count in Mumbai to 6,13,418, the official had said.

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