Mumbai, June 27: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday announced that there will be a new system of reporting COVID 19 deaths in Mumbai from July 1. In its order, the civic body said that starting from July 1, the coronavirus deaths in the metropolis will be reported on a Google Form. The BMC ordered the nodal Officers of the Hospitals to ensure death reporting within 48 hours from their hospitals from July 1 onwards.

On Friday, Mumbai reported 117 deaths, raising the city's death toll from 4,062 to 4,179 now. The number of coronavirus patients in the metropolis shot up by 1,297 cases to touch 72,175. Apart from Mumbai,  there were 16 in Pune, 15 in Aurangabad, 11 in Nashik, 6 in Thane, 2 each in Akola, Latur and Nanded, and 1 death each in Kolhapur, Nandurbar, Gondiya and Nagpur. BMC Adopts Preventive Measures, Including Installation of Foot-Operated Lift, Water Dispenser And Wash Basin at Mumbai's GS Ward Office To Fight COVID-19.

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On Friday, Mumbai municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal directed all the hospitals in the city to report deaths due to COVID-19 within 48 hours, and set a deadline of June 29 for reporting earlier fatalities. Chahal held a meeting with hospital deans, medical experts and senior health department officials through video conference and warned of stringent action under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, if hospitals failed to comply, the BMC said.

The COVID-19 tally in Maharashtra zoomed past the 1.5-lakh mark to touch 1,52,765 till Friday. With Friday's 175 fatalities, the state's death toll climbed from Thursday's 6,931 to 7,106, the highest so far. Reports inform that this comes to roughly one death recorded every 8 minutes and a staggering 209 new cases notched every hour in the state on Friday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 27, 2020 09:22 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).