Mumbai: The city and the state reported the highest number of new corona cases since the outbreak of the pandemic, setting yet another ominous single-day record on Sunday. There were 3,775 new cases and 10 deaths reported in Mumbai in the last 24 hours, taking the total count to 3,62,654 cases, including 11,582 fatalities so far. The previous high was 3,062, reported on March 19.
The doubling rate of infection dropped to 106 days from 114 in the last 24 hours and the weekly growth rate has increased 0.63 per cent. The number of active cases has surged to 23,448, with an overall positivity rate of 9.77 per cent.
In Maharashtra, there were 30,535 cases and 99 deaths reported for the first time on Sunday, pushing the overall tally in the state to 24,79,682 cases, including 53,399 fatalities. The recovery rate has dropped to 90 per cent since December last year.
State Surveillance Officer Dr Pradeep Awate said the second wave seems to be milder but the infection is more transmissible. The number of deaths in the city and the state is a fraction of what it was during the peak(s) of the first wave in May-June 2020 and September-October 2020. The state’s weekly case fatality rate in the February 15-21 period was 0.7 per cent, which declined to 0.32 per cent in the last six days between March 15 and 20. However, in this period, the weekly cases have tripled.
Experts have blamed both the citizens as well as authorities for the steep rise in cases, stating the citizens have become casual and are not serious about adhering to Covid-19 norms. “In addition, authorities are failing to enforce rules, as we are witnessing crowded marriage halls, functions sans social distancing and revellers in pubs, dancing without any masks. There seems to be no effort by authorities to curb this,” said one expert.
