The home quarantine for Covid-19 has seen a staggering dip of 71 per cent in the last 12 days, even though there has not been a significant drop in institutional quarantine. Until February 1, as per the state health department’s data, 10,69,596 people were under home quarantine, which dropped to 3,13,457 by February 13. State officials have attributed this strict implementation of restrictions, awareness amongst citizens about coronavirus and 68 per cent beneficiaries being fully vaccinated.
In the past two weeks, the daily cases of Covid-19 in the state have fallen below 10,000; in the last three days alone, the daily reported numbers have been less than 6,000. Experts said the recovery rate among mildly symptomatic patients has also increased rapidly. State surveillance officer, Dr Pradeep Awate said overall active cases have come down across the state, especially in the hotspots. He said in Mumbai alone, the number of active patients has come down to 2,677.
Experts said the state government managed to control the third wave of the pandemic even after lifting some of the curbs as there was no spike in a few districts. However, caution has to be exercised as several cases, at least in Mumbai, are of Omicron variant, which is being called a super mutant owing to its transmissibility. On Saturday, one-third of the cases reported in the city were Omicron.
Additional municipal commissioner (health) Suresh Kakani said home quarantine has seen a fall as generally cases across the city are decreasing. Following this, active cases have also reduced and the doubling and weekly growth rate have also increased. He said strict restrictions played a major role in curbing the cases. “As most of patients were asymptomatic and feared stepping out, it was easier for health officers to keep a tab on them during home quarantine. Almost 60-70 per cent patients in Mumbai have completed their home quarantine,” he said.
Dr Wiqar Shaikh, professor of medicine at Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Hospital, said, “We will see the end of this wave by March. Until then we should be cautious and take all precautions.”
