Mumbai: The number of international passengers testing Covid positive after undergoing the RT-PCR test at the Mumbai airport has doubled in the last 22 days. The highest number of patients is from Mumbai. Meanwhile, Health Minister Tanaji Sawant on Saturday said that the XBB.1.16 Covidvariant, which is dominant currently, is no cause for concern and people should not panic due to the rise in cases. The present wave will come down to the endemic stage by May 15 and a downward trend will be seen next month, he underlined.
According to official statistics, 43 international passengers had tested positive until April 1 and the figure had risen to 91 until April 22. The samples of all patients have been sent for whole genome sequencing.
Drop in cases reported across Maharashtra
“Out of these 91 patients, 33 are from Mumbai, 14 are from Pune, eight from Gujarat, five from Uttar Pradesh, three each from Kerala, Odisha, West Bengal, two each from Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Goa and Assam, Bihar, Telangana, Hyderabad, Chennai, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, New Delhi and Karnataka, and one each from Satara and Nagpur,” said an official.
Meanwhile, there has been a drop in cases reported across Maharashtra in the last 24 hours, with 850 fresh cases and four fatalities being recorded on Saturday. The total tally has now increased to 81,61,349, with 1, 48,502 deaths.
Similarly, cases also plummeted in Mumbai as Saturday tallied 177 fresh cases and two deaths. Now, the city's caseload has surged to 11, 61,746, including 19,760 fatalities. Meanwhile, the active cases have also dropped to 1,377.
“A 34-year-old female with comorbidities, including cancer and chronic kidney disease, and a 79-year-old male suffering from diabetes mellitus and hypertension died of Covid in the last 24 hours,” said a doctor.
