The area between Vasai, Nalasopara and Virar has witnessed a six-fold rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the past 40 days, Mid-Day reported Friday.
According to the report, residents of the area – particularly those living in containment zones – have ‘blatantly violated lockdown norms’
To add to the issue, the civic officials, residents, and police officers are blaming each other. While residents complain that the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation has done nothing to curb vegetable vendors who come through the barricade to their homes, VVMC authorities rubbish the claim saying that there is a person regularly conducting checks.
Residents and civic authorities have also said that the police is not available at all times – an allegation that has been denied by local cops. Furthermore, the authorities have said that locals have refused to cooperate with them, alleging that people walk around the area in crowds and not wearing masks.
Furthermore, a number of residents from the area go to Mumbai on work and the spike in the number of cases in the region could hamper Mumbai’s battle against coronavirus, which after a long time has seen a significant decrease.
On July 21, the area crossed 10,000 COVID-19 cases. According to a report by Lokmat, Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVMC) reported 190 new COVID-19 cases and 3 deaths, taking the total number of cases to 10,017 and deaths to 192. As per VVMC's website, 6,581 people have recovered so far.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra's COVID-19 tally rose to 3,18,695 on Monday with the addition of 8,240 new cases, while the death toll crossed the 12,000-mark, the state health department said.
With 176 new deaths in a day, the state's fatality count increased to 12,030, the department said. A total of 5,460 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the number of recovered persons to 1,75,029, the department said in a statement. There are 1,31,334 active cases in the state at present, it added.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said that The WHO has taken note of containment of coronavirus in Mumbai, while the 'Washington Post', too, has praised the efforts taken to tackle COVID-19 in the metropolis, but the authorities should not lower guard and remain alert.
He instructed BMC officials to remain alert to bring down the graph of COVID-19 cases in the city as a second wave of the disease is being predicted world over. The chief minister made the remarks as he interacted with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials via video conferencing.
