Uptick in Covid cases: State refuses to reintroduce curbs

Mumbai Even as the positivity rates in five Maharashtra districts are increasing, the state cabinet has decided not to implement any fresh restrictions but increase testing and enhance tracing on Monday. They have refused to re-introduced the mask mandate but have ‘appealed’ to citizens to wear masks.

State health minister Rajesh Tope said that the department gave a detailed presentation on the current Covid situation to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and the cabinet on Monday.

“There has been an increase in the positivity rate in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Raigad and Palghar districts. These districts have recorded a positivity rate between 8% to 3%. Hence, the local administration has been asked to ramp up testing,” Tope said. The minister added that the rise in positivity rate in Maharashtra is mainly because of the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of Omicron. “Most infections are because of the BA.4 and BA.5 variants, which are very contagious,” he added.

As per the presentation, Mumbai has seen a 135% increase in the cases recorded between May 23-29 and May 30-June 5. Thane district has seen a jump of 191.59% in the same period, while Palghar, Raigad and Pune have recorded a jump of 350%, 130.19% and 50.7% during the same period. Also, in the last seven days, Mumbai has contributed 67.28% of the total cases recorded in the state, followed by Thane (17.17%), Pune (7.42%), Raigad (3.36%) and Palghar (2%).

Officials of the state health department are not calling it a fourth wave yet. “This could be the beginning of the fourth wave. However, the directive would come from the ICMR or the union health ministry. It is important that people should not panic, follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and get vaccinated,” said a senior bureaucrat who did not wish to be named. Calls and messages to Pradeep Vyas, additional chief secretary (health), and Tope remained unanswered.

Meanwhile, Tope said that the cases are restricted to five districts and are not a matter of concern as hospitalisation remains low. “The hospital admissions are very low. As per the data, only 1% of the positive cases are admitted to hospitals in the state. So, severity is low and therefore it is not a major cause for concern,” he said.

The minister said that the cabinet expressed concern over the rising cases, but no curbs are being advised now. “Everyone should be wearing masks. Although masks have not been made mandatory and not wearing them would not attract any fine, it is an appeal,” he said.

Maharashtra on Monday added 1,036 fresh cases-- which is a drop from the previous day because of fewer tests. Meanwhile, Mumbai added 676 new cases. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region, which consists of Thane, Palghar, and a part of Raigad district, had recorded 9,33 cases (including Mumbai) on Monday. Pune city has reported 46 cases, while Pune rural has six cases, and Pimpri-Chinchwad saw 19 cases.

In the past 24 hours, the state tested 15,988 samples, which showed a positivity rate of 6.48%. Mumbai, meanwhile, tested 6,897 samples and had a positivity rate of 9.8%.