Maharashtra on Wednesday reported less than 3,000 cases, with 2,171 new infections and 32 covid-19 fatalities being reported in the last 24 hours, pushing its tally to 20,15,524, with 50,894 deaths so far. Meanwhile, the number of recovered patients have increased to 19,20,006, with 2,556 being discharged, increasing the recovery rate to 95.26 per cent.
Mumbai continues to report less than 500 cases for the last six days, with 435 new cases and six covid-19 fatalities being reported on Wednesday, increasing the numbers to 3,07,170, with 11,319. Meanwhile, the doubling rate of the cases in Mumbai has increased to 486 days, while the weekly growth rate remains constant at 0.21 per cent.
Dr Subhash Salunkhe, who chairs the Maharashtra communicable diseases prevention and control technical committee, said, “Although we are getting fewer daily cases, the number of active infections is still quite high. It simply means we need to be more careful because the situation is not what we anticipate,” he said.
Starting a vaccination drive does not mean that cases will start going down. It will happen only when common people start getting immunised, which is still far away. “The next few months, healthcare providers and frontline workers are going to be vaccinated,” he added.
Dr Rahul Pandit, who is a member of the state government task force on Covid-19, said that while the pandemic is clearly on the decline in Mumbai, some parts of the state are still witnessing an increase in numbers.
“In Mumbai, too, the daily number of cases should have dropped more than the 400-500 at present. However, Mumbai is a crowded city and a number of people who stayed home for the first nine months of the pandemic are venturing out and getting infected,” he said.
“I agree the situation [Covid-19 cases] is not improving, but the position we are in is better than before. It is going to take some more time before we have full control of the situation. The vaccination drive, as it reaches the common people, will start showing positive effects,” he added.
