With 202 positive cases of the coronavirus, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) recorded maximum cases in a single on Thursday. The civic chief blamed relaxation in the lockdown as one of the reasons for a spike in positive cases in the city.
On the second consecutive day, the city saw more than 150 positive cases, taking the total number of positive cases to 4491 on Thursday.
Abbasaheb Misal, municipal commissioner of Navi Mumbai said that the movement of people has increased after relaxation in lockdown and this is one of the reasons for the rise in positive cases. However, he asked to not panic as the local body has made adequate arrangements to handle COVID-19 cases. He also attributed special mass screening as an important reason for the rise in positive cases.
“The rise in the number of positive cases is due to also the special mass screening and cases that are being reported through mass screening are good. This will help us from preventing the spread of the virus,” said Misal. He added, “We are carrying out the mass screening in slums where people are not as much awareness to come to the hospital by themselves. This mass screening is helping us to reach the infected person and prevent further spread,” said Misal. So far, the civic body has screened over 32,000 citizens across the city.
Meanwhile, the civic body has set up “COVID 19 War Room” at the municipal headquarter in Belapur. The purpose of the war room is to tackle corona infection during the monsoon. A separate helpline number has also been made available in the war room to provide health-related advice to citizens. The health helpline number is 022-27567269.
“The war room will disseminate the information received daily from the state and central government regarding Corona, compile and send various government departments on time,” said Misal. He added that it will also help in the review of the daily situation and taking a further curse of action.
