Amidst the rising cases in Mumbai, mayor Kishori Pednekar on Friday stated that nobody wants lockdown but keeping in mind the manner in which Covid-19 cases are rising and creating pressure on the health infrastructure, some strict measures will have to be taken.
"Cases are going up, beds are getting occupied fully and everyone is concerned. However, some people are careless and are endangering all. Stricter norms are needed. Even we don’t want lockdown but with the spike in cases there is pressure on the health infrastructure. This means we need to take more precautions,’’ she noted.
Pednekar said the city would have witnessed such a sharp surge in virus infection if residents of high-rise buildings had complied with the Covid-19 appropriate behaviour.
"It is generally assumed that the people in high rises are more educated and the people living in slums are less educated," she added.
Pednekar however, showered praise on the people living in the slums saying they have shown that they have more civic sense than those who are living in housing societies and high-rise buildings. ‘’Those living in slums abide by the rules and follow procedures. So, my appeal to the residents of the various housing societies to follow rules," said the city Mayor.
Pednekar said that a meeting is being organised on April 3 to discuss measures such as reduction of crowding in buses. She noted that a limited number of passengers will be allowed to stand and they will have to maintain some distance from the co-passengers while occupying the seat.
Pednekar’s statement came a day after Mumbai reported the highest number of single-day cases in the last 24 hours, with 8,646 new infections and 18 deaths on Thursday, increasing its tally to 4,23,260 cases so far. The total death toll in the city is now 11,704.
The recovery rate has dropped to 84 per cent, with 5,031 patients being discharged on Thursday, increasing the total recovered patients to 3,55,691.
Dharavi, which had been a cause for concern in the first phase of the pandemic because of its super-congested state, reported 71 new infections in the last 24 hours.
