At a time when the state government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are gradually allowing the reopening of schools, colleges and places of worship, on Sunday, there was some heartening news – there were zero Covid deaths reported in Mumbai on Sunday for the first time since March last year. Having announced this, authorities however, advised citizens not to lower their guard, saying the threat continued to loom in the air.
BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said: “Mumbai recorded Zero Covid death the first time after March 26, 2020. This is great news for all of us in Mumbai. As Commissioner of BMC, i salute Team BMC for their spectacular performance. Let us all keep the mask on our face and let every citizen of Mumbai get vaccinated if some of us haven’t yet!
I appeal to everyone to help us keep Mumbai safe.”
The good news comes just when the state health minister is mulling allowing those singly vaccinated to commute in Mumbai local trains, visit malls and other public places/sites post-Diwali. However, Tope clarified this would depend on the number of Covid cases and deaths in the city and a decision would be taken after consulting the state Covid taskforce.
According to the Mumbai civic body, this is the first time the city reported zero deaths since March 26, 2020. “We had managed to get a grip over the deaths due to Covid19. The number of deaths had fallen to single-digits for quite some time now. However, this is the first time Mumbai had zero deaths. However, we all need to maintain this by being alert, being responsible for ourselves and following Covid-appropriate behaviour. When in public places, never part with your facemask,” Chahal added.
Minister of Tourism and Environment Aaditya Thackeray took to Twitter to share the ‘good news’ and urged people to follow safety protocols and get themselves vaccinated. “The good news: Mumbai today has recorded zero covid deaths, the first time since 26th March 2020. Keep the mask on the face and get yourself vaccinated if you haven’t yet! Help us keep Mumbai safe, we’re here to serve you!” Aaditya tweeted.
However, the city recorded 367 new cases on Sunday, taking the cumulative case tally to 7,50,808, revealed data from the BMC’s public health department. The death toll remained unchanged at 16,180 on Sunday, while recoveries jumped to 7,27,084, with 518 people being discharged in the last 24 hours ending on Sunday.
The recovery rate of Mumbai now stands at 97 per cent, whereas the positivity rate has dipped to 1.27 per cent. There are 5,030 active cases in the city, as per civic data. A total of 28,697 tests were conducted on Sunday.
In Maharashtra there were 1,715 new cases, taking the number of active cases to 28,631. Besides, 29 deaths were reported in the day, taking the total number of fatalities to 1,39,789; 2,680 patients were discharged in the day, taking the tally to 64,16,998. The recovery rate in the state is 97.39 per cent while the case fatality rate in the state is 2.12 per cent
