Maharashtra, on Wednesday, reported 5,505 new COVID-19 cases and 124 fatalities. With this, its corresponding tally has risen to 16,98,198 and 44,548 so far. The active caseload has also dropped to 1,12,912 in the state. The recovery rate has gone up at 90.68 per cent and the fatality rate has been 2.62 per cent for the last two months.
Mumbai continues to report less than 1,000 cases. 983 cases and 29 deaths were recorded on Wednesday, taking the total count to 2,60,843, with 10,349, respectively. The overall doubling rate of the cases has increased to 187 days. The weekly growth rate has dropped to 0.38 per cent. And, the recovery rate has touched 89 per cent, while the fatality rate has been 3.97 per cent.
In a bid to tackle a potential second wave in the winter, a state-appointed committee has submitted an action plan to the state Health Department. A winter surge is common for respiratory viruses. Many experts believe that the number of COVID-19 cases is likely to rise as the temperatures dip.
Senior Health Department officials said that they are unaware of how the virus would react in winter. Therefore, people have to remain cautious and follow all the safety measures. Moreover, H1N1 (swine flu) has a similar trend of an increase in cases during winter. However, the jump is not as high as it is in monsoon. The Health Department is also hoping that herd immunity will help tackle a second wave.
Dr Subhash Salunkhe, a member of the state-appointed committee on communicable diseases, said that, like all viruses, Sars-CoV-2 too will get a boost in winter. “COVID-19 is a virus which is transmitted through the respiratory route. Chillier the weather, higher the chances of transmission. Weather impacts the organism. But more than this, it affects humans. People move less. They remain in places where the ventilation is poor. These factors contribute towards the risk of viral transmission, which are respiratory in nature. It is also known that the capacity of the virus to survive is more in winter. We have to be prepared to tackle the virus after the weather changes,” he said.
