Two Covid-19 patients, including a minor, die of comorbidities at Mumbai's KEM hospital, BMC says ‘no need to panic’

Two patients, including a minor, diagnosed with Covid-19 died at Mumbai's King Edward Memorial (KEM) hospital last week, news agency PTI said on Tuesday.

According to the report, the doctors said that the deaths were caused by comorbidities along with Covid-19. One patient aged 14, suffered kidney failure due to nephrotic syndrome and the other patient, 54, was undergoing cancer treatment, the report said.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said that May has seen more Covid patients than the previous months, but the illness is now an endemic, and not a cause for concern.

The report also said that The Seven Hills hospital and Kasturba hospital have designated beds for Covid-19 patients, which can be increased with necessity.

No need to panic, says hospital

Hospital authorities, while clarifying that these deaths were not due to Covid-19, but serious diseases like nephrotic syndrome with hypocalcemic seizures and cancer, said that there was no need for people to panic.

According to the PTI report, the BMC said that very few cases of the Covid-19 infection are found and that too sporadically. The two patients who died at the hospital were from Sindhudurg district and Dombivli in Thane district and were not residents of Mumbai, a BMC statement said.

"The Health Department of the BMC is constantly monitoring the spread of Covid-19. From January 2025 to April 2025, the number of Covid-19 patients has been found to be very low. But since the beginning of May, there have been some cases of Covid-19. However, the BMC administration is appealing to citizens not to panic in this regard," the statement added.

Health Ministry reviews Covid-19 surge abroad

According to an ANI report, which cited sources, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) convened a review meeting on Monday with experts from National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Emergency Medical Relief (EMR) division, Disaster Management Cell, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and central government hospitals.

The meeting comes following recent media reports of a surge in Covid-19 cases in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The meeting was chaired by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS), the ANI report said. The expert review meeting concluded that the current Covid-19 situation in India remains under control, it said.

As of May 19, 2025, the number of active Covid-19 cases in India stands at 257 – a very low figure considering the country's large population. Almost all of these cases are mild, with no hospitalisation required.

(With inputs from agencies)