Day after reporting the highest single-day corona cases, there was a drop in the number of daily cases in the past 24 hours. The state on Monday reported 24,465 new infections and 58 COVID-19 deaths, pushing its total positive cases to 25,04,327 and 53,457 fatalities. The active cases has crossed two lakh mark on Monday. Close to 20,000 patients were recovered in the last 24 hours.
For the second consecutive days more than 3,000 cases was reported in the city on Monday, with 3,260 new infections and 10 coronavirus fatalities in the last 24 hours, increasing the total cases to 3,65,914, and 11,592 fatalities. The doubling rate of the city has dropped below 100 days and recovery rate has dropped to 90 per cent.
Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner, said there will be rise in the number of cases for the next 10-15 days. However, their main focus is to curb the mortality rate. “We can sustain this spike in cases because of our available medical infrastructure. Lockdown is not being planned in Mumbai as it brings all activities to a complete halt. We are going to increase the city’s bed capacity. Testing is being scaled up, and vaccination is being accelerated.”
Dr Deepak Baid, the president of the Association of Medical Consultants, said the reason for the rising numbers was asymptomatic patients were being asked to stay home. Currently, while there is a drop in the number of severe cases of infection across the state, there are a number of asymptomatic patients who are not hospitalised but kept in mandatory home quarantine for 14 days. “More than 80 per cent of patients are asymptomatic and have been asked to be home- or institutional-quarantined, based on their priorities, while only 18 per cent of patients need hospitalisation. But they are also discharged within seven days or once their reports are negative,” he said.
State Surveillance Officer Dr Pradeep Awate said there were many factors due to which cases had increased, leading to a surge in home and institutional quarantine across the state. Laxity in following Covid norms and the increased movement of people were the main factors for the surge, he said. “Covid- inappropriate behaviour at the weddings or family function has caused problems across the state. Similarly, more than 80 per cent went home for gram panchayat elections, causing the virus to spread faster among citizens,” he said.
