Neela Satyanarayan, Maharashtra�s first woman chief election commissioner and celebrated author, poet, succumbed to Covid-19 in Seven Hills Hospital in Mumbai on Thursday. She was aged 72.

She is the first IAS officer in the state to succumb to Covid-19.

She had penned several books, was a 1972 batch IAS officer, and also composed music for some films. After retirement, she was appointed as the state�s Chief Election Commissioner.

Maharashtra, the worst-affected state in the country, has over 2.75 lakh cases and 10,928 casualties. On Wednesday, the state reported 7,975 fresh cases and 223 deaths due to the infection. There are 1.11 lakh active cases to date. Maharashtra is expected to cross the three-lakh mark by the weekend.

The death rate due to Covid-19 in Maharashtra dropped to less than 4 per cent for the first time in the last two months. On Wednesday, the state�s fatality rate stood at 3.96 per cent, A week ago, the death rate was 4.22 per cent, and a week before it was 4.47 per cent. Mumbai�s death rate at 5.6 per cent, however, is higher than the state average. Pune too came close to Mumbai with 1,345 fresh cases on Wednesday, taking its count to 32,096.

State officials said a slew of measures, from forming a task force to handling critical patients to increased capacity of oxygen beds, have helped control the death rate.