There were two Covid deaths reported in the city on Sunday after four months, taking the total death toll to 19,573 till now. The last time there were fatalities reported was February 14, when there were two deaths among the 192 cases recorded in Mumbai. Meanwhile, there was a slight drop in the daily case count in the last 24 hours, with 1,803 new cases being reported, taking the total number of cases to 10,80,747 so far. Health experts are concerned that low testing could lead to the under-reporting of cases in Mumbai.
The two patients who died were below 40 years of age and had comorbidities, it was reported.
However, there was a marginal surge in the rest of Maharashtra, with 2,946 cases being reported on Sunday in comparison to 2,922 cases reported the day before, pushing the state’s tally to 79,10,577, with 1,47,870 deaths till now. The number of active cases in the state have surged to 16,370, of which 10,889 are in Mumbai.
State Surveillance Officer Dr Pradeep Awate said that a majority of these cases were because of the Omicron variant, which was responsible for the third wave. Those being infected are recovering in three to four days, he said. “A majority of the population is vaccinated and many have acquired herd immunity, thus weakening the effect of the virus,” he said.
Addressing the issue of the gradual drop in testing, an official said that unlike earlier, passengers at railway stations and bus terminals weren’t being subjected to mandatory Covid testing, which had decreased the daily testing rate. Medical experts continue to remind Mumbaikars not to get complacent, avoid crowded places and follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour.
“Because of the norms set down by the ICMR, we are not testing asymptomatic people, so a lot of undetected cases are likely to be there. But the trend is downward and the intensity of the virus has lessened. Yet, it is still advisable that we follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, even when Mumbai is at the lowest point in the third wave,” said members of the state Covid-19 taskforce.
