MMR accounts for half of daily Covid caseload and active cases of state

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), comprising nine municipal corporations and nine municipal councils, continue to report a high Covid-19 daily caseload. The region has been reporting almost half the daily cases in the state of late and has 46% of the active cases.

Maharashtra on Friday recorded 1,338 cases with 36 deaths taking its tally to 6,609,292 and toll to 140,170. Around 638 or 47.68% of the new cases were from MMR. Of the 18,465 active cases reported in the state, MMR accounted for 8,910 or 46.25%.

MMR includes Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai and Raigad districts, with a cumulative projected population of more than 25 million, over 20% of the state population. It is regarded as one most urbanised pockets in Maharashtra.

With the comparatively high number of daily caseload, Mumbai outnumbered Pune to lead in the number of Covid-19 active cases. Thane, a part of MMR also featured in the third position contributing to the growing number of cases in the MMR.

The reason for the high number of cases in MMR is attributed to the high density of population, huge network of local trains, reopening of various facilities, a large number of workspaces and crowded places making social distancing impossible.

State surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate said, “The MMR has a high density of population, hence we are seeing a high number of cases here. In the second wave, we saw a surge of cases in the rural parts of the state but now they have gone down significantly. In Mumbai and Thane, the numbers have stabilised though they are not coming down as rapidly as in other parts. Though they may seem high the situation is under control,” said Dr Awate.

The MMR has for months hovered between 35% and 50% of new cases. Depending on the surge in rural areas, the percentage of the cases to total state figure decreased during the peak of the second wave as districts like Ahmednagar, Pune, Satara and Sangli witnessed a huge surge of cases. However, now with the decline of Covid-19 cases in the rural parts, the MMR has again seen a significant rise in cases.

Take the case of a year back on October 29, 2020, when the number of cases in MMR clocked 2,076 of the total 5,902 cases that day which worked out to be 35.17%. In the case of active cases, MMR stood at 45,351 of the total 127,603 which is 35.54%.

This dropped to 27.65% as of April 22 this year when the virus was at its peak as the cases in MMR stood at 17,195, of the total 67,013 new cases. The active cases in MMR were 191,926, of the total 6,99,858 active cases, which is 27.42%.

On September 29, 2021, there were 1,064 Covid-19 new cases, of the total 3,187 cases, which come to 37.38 % and the active cases stood at 12,602 of the total 36,675 active cases which are 37,36%.

Dr Wiqar Shaikh, professor of medicine, Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Hospital described the crowding in urban pockets as dangerous. “We have space in rural pockets to spread out but there is no such luxury in the MMR due to paucity of space,” said Dr Shaikh. “We are also seeing the people in urban pockets letting their guard down which is becoming very risky,” warned Shaikh.

Meanwhile, Mumbai reported 330 new cases and six deaths taking a tally to 756,134 and toll to 16,241.

There were 1,22,990 tests done on Friday across the state, while the number of recoveries clocked 1,584. The total number of active patients in Maharashtra currently stands at 18,465. Mumbai tops with 4,955 active patients, followed by Pune with 3,759 and Thane with 2,829.