Mumbai reports 889 new cases, highest single-day increase in 4 months

Mumbai on Saturday reported 889 fresh Covid infections, taking the overall case tally to 10,67,975. This is the highest number of cases reported in a single day in the last four months.

Earlier, 846 cases were reported within 24 hours on February 4. On Saturday, one Covid death was reported in the city and the toll stood at 19,568.

With 10,257 tests carried out in the past 24 hours, the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) of Mumbai on Saturday stood at 8.66 per cent.

Earlier on Friday, municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said that the fourth Covid wave may hit the city in July and had ordered the BMC to increase the number of daily tests to 40,000 from the current 8,000

Meanwhile, medical experts said that the rise in cases happened due to an increase in testing and it’s too early to attribute if the city is on the verge of a fourth Covid wave.

“Right now, we are seeing a steady rise in cases because the number of daily Covid tests increased by several folds in the past few weeks. Besides this, the rate of hospitalisation in Mumbai is less than one per cent and the ICU admission is also very less. Apart from seeing only the absolute number of cases, we should consider these factors also as this is not the time to say if there’s a new wave in the city now,” said Dr Rahul Pandit, member of the national Covid-19 task force and director of critical care unit, Fortis Hospital.

“Currently there’s no wave but cases are being reported in clusters and most cases are asymptomatic and mild. The current strategy should be protecting the vulnerable groups and following the testing and tracking and isolation and treatment protocol,” said Dr Shashank Joshi, member of the state Covid task force.

“Covid-appropriate behaviour should be followed, especially in indoor spaces, poorly ventilated spaces and crowded areas. Citizens shouldn’t panic but stay vigilant,” said Joshi.

Meanwhile, the BMC officials said that they have all the infrastructure ready. Following Chahal’s order on Friday, the civic health department stated that they will be activating all the Covid jumbo centres in the city.

At present, there are nine jumbo centres in Mumbai, and each has a capacity of 3,000 beds including ICU and Ventilation facilities.

“It’s too early to say if there’s a new wave but there has been a significant rise in the number of daily cases. Earlier, when we saw cases rising at such a rapid pace, we found out that there was a new variant in place. This time also, we are staying vigilant and have already sent samples for genome sequencing and the reports for the same are expected by early next week,” said Dr Mangala Gomare, the executive health officer in BMC.

Meanwhile, the BMC on Saturday said that they have started the ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign from June 1 in line with the central government directives. Senior officials said that this campaign has been launched to speed up the immunisation of vaccines, especially among teenagers in the age group of 12-17 years and the campaign will continue till July 31.

The BMC data stated that so far, 28% of those in the age group of 12 -14 years have been vaccinated with the first dose and 12% with the second dose. In the case of those who are in the age group of 15- 17 years, 57% have been administered with the first dose and 45% with the second dose. The BMC said vaccination in the age group of 12-17 years is very low compared to eligible citizens above 18 years of age.

As part of this campaign, door to door visits is being made by health workers.

Meanwhile, as of Saturday, there are 4,294 active cases in Mumbai and a total of 329 patients have recovered in the past 24 hours. The recovery rate of Mumbai is 98 per cent.