Mumbai continues to be the biggest contributor to the overall Covid case tally being reported from across Maharashtra. The city has accounted for 60 per cent of Covid cases recorded across Maharashtra between May 1 and May 7.
According to the data, the state reported 1,153 Covid cases, of which 692 cases have been recorded in Mumbai in the last week. Moreover, the test positivity rate of the city has increased to 1.53 per cent between May 1 and May 7, as compared to 1 per cent between April 24 and April 30. Meanwhile, health officials are awaiting new guidelines from the centre and the Covid task force to curb the rising cases in the state, especially Mumbai.
Health experts have urged citizens to continue to follow the Covid norms and get vaccinated to avoid contracting infections. Senior doctors from the civic health department said there is no need of panicking despite the rise in cases in Mumbai, considering very few people are being hospitalised due to the virus.
The city reported 172 Covid cases on May 7, but only five people were admitted to the hospital. The civic health department has been monitoring new trends closely and all ward officers have been directed to focus on testing and contact tracing. “We have limitations in Covid testing since the centre issued guidelines state only severe or mildly symptomatic patients should be tested, while suspected cases should be under home quarantine with no testing for them. But now, as cases have surged, we need to increase testing for which we are waiting for new guidelines from the centre,” a civic official said, adding that the numbers are not alarming yet, but people cannot be lax about wearing masks in indoor spaces. Meanwhile, the state Covid task force said that the Omicron variant is still prevalent so a surge in cases was expected. Moreover, people have stopped following Covid norms indoors and are roaming without masks in crowded places which is a matter for the state government to consider regarding their decision on lifting curbs. “Delhi also witnessed a surge in Covid case sover the months following which wearing a mask has been made mandatory and people are adhering to it.
But in Maharashtra and Mumbai there are no curbs, so in such circumstances cases are bound to fluctuate. The mask only matters to those citizens who do not want to contract infection,” saidoneof the task force members. BMC's Executive health officer Dr Mangala Gomare said while the number of positive cases in Mumbai has increased,there is stillno reason for concern as of now. “Even though the daily case figures are increasing we are keeping a close watch on the mortality rate and rate of hospitalisation, both of which are below 1 per cent. We have kept all our available facilities on standby and are fully ready for any adversity that may come,” Gomare said.
