Spectre of second COVID-19 wave looms large over Maharashtra: New cases cross 15,000-mark; 1,646 cases in Mumbai

Spectre of second COVID-19 wave looms large over Maharashtra: New cases cross 15,000-mark; 1,646 cases in Mumbai

Dipti SinghUpdated: Friday, March 12, 2021, 11:34 PM IST
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Spectre of second COVID-19 wave looms large over Maharashtra: New cases cross 15,000-mark; 1,646 cases in Mumbai | File Image

Mumbai: The spectre of a second wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic looms large, with Maharashtra continuing to record a spike in daily Covid-19 infections. On Friday, 15,817 fresh cases and 56 deaths were reported in the state, the highest single-day count in the last six months, state health department officials said.

The state’s cumulative caseload and death toll jumped to 22,82,191 and 52,723, respectively, with the active case count breaching the one-lakh mark, to reach 1,10,485.

Meanwhile, Mumbai too, reported a staggering spike of 1,646 new cases; however, the daily fatality toll remained below 5, with four new deaths reported on Friday. The cumulative case tally of Mumbai is now 3,40,277, of which 12,487 are active cases, up from 8,594 on March 4.

According to BMC officials, as many as 90 per cent of the total 23,002 people in Mumbai who tested Covid-positive this January and February, were residents of high-rise buildings or non-slum areas, while the remaining 10 per cent were from slums and chawls. “But we are now receiving a large number of patients from slums as well. Most of them are from middle- and lower-class backgrounds,” informed a senior doctor at a civic hospital, who did not wish to be named.

The number of coronavirus containment zones and sealed buildings in the city have also increased from the beginning of this month, the civic body said. According to the BMC’s Covid-19 dashboard, while the city had 10 containment zones and 137 sealed buildings on March 1, these numbers went up to 30 and 214 respectively, on March 12.

The state had recorded around 14,000 to 15,000 cases in October, last year, after which the number of cases began declining, only to surge afresh last month. Worryingly, the state recorded 13,659 and 14,317 cases on Wednesday and Thursday. The spike has only served to make people recall the horror of when the pandemic began to unfold in the state last year, with the first case being reported on March 9, 2020, and in Mumbai on March 11, 2020.

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