Mumbai sees two-fold rise in active COVID cases

There has been a two-fold rise in the number of active COVID cases across Mumbai in the last 22 days of August. According to the data, until August 1 there were 1,889 active cases which have now increased to 6,269 (August 22). Moreover, the number of people getting hospitalised has also increased to 551 from 201 during the period.

Doctors attributed the surge to people not following COVID-appropriate behaviour, overcrowding during ongoing festivities and the emergence of new subtypes of the Omicron variant.

A senior health officer from the civic health department said though the hospitalisation rate is below 5 per cent, people have to be alert. “The cases are mild and the majority of them are recovering on their own. But the surge in new infections can only be attributed to people not following COVID-appropriate behaviour,” he said.

The official further said that most of the recent cases are incidental wherein patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 while undergoing treatment for other infections.

As per the public health department, the recent rise in cases is mostly driven by the new sub-variants of Omicron — BA.2.75 and BA.2.74. “There can be two factors behind the surge — the new variants which have a higher transmission rate and the rise in cases of monsoon-related ailments like influenza. The same epidemiological reasons can be behind the COVID surge,” state surveillance officer, Dr Pradeep Awate said.