Covid cases in Mumbai go down in October, positivity rate go up marginally

According to state health department data, in the first 14 days of September, 8,894 Covid cases and 52 deaths were reported, while the same dropped to 7,086 cases during the same period in October

Though the number of Covid cases has dropped slightly in October compared to the previous months, there is a marginal rise in the daily positivity rate in the past few days, states the data from the state health department. Dharavi, Asia’s one of the largest slum clusters, has reported a surge with active cases doubling in the last one week.

A senior citizen being vaccinated against Covid-19 at CR Wadia Hospital vaccination centre, in Thane, Mumbai. (HT Photo)

According to state health department data, in the first 14 days of September 8,894 cases and 52 deaths were reported, while the same dropped to 7,086 cases during the same period in October. Furthermore,​ in October the number of deaths went up to 56 from 52. In the case of Dharavi, the active cases have gone up to 30 cases from the previous 16 cases a week ago on October 8.

Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner of the BMC said, “In the case of Dharavi, there is not anything alarming that we have witnessed yet. The spike in the active cases is the result of focused testing. We are preparing for upcoming festivals.”

On September 1, a positivity rate of 0.99% was reported which went up to 1.28% on September 14 and further to 1.47% on October 14. At the same time, there has been a marginal decrease in the number of tests conducted in October, compared to that of September. According to the data, in the first 14 days of September, 486,460 tests were conducted in the city that went down to 465,326 tests.

According to the data, in September’s first 14 days, the city reported 8,894 cases that went down to 7,086 cases in the same period in October. Though the number of deaths went up in October, the rise is not significant. In the first 14 days of September, the city reported 52 deaths that went up to 56 deaths in October.

Meanwhile, on Friday, 480 cases were reported followed by five deaths taking the case tally to 750,974 and toll to 16,177. The city’s recovery rate is 96% with 726,051 recoveries and the fatality rate is 2.15%. There are 6,255 active cases in the city. On Friday, 37,978 tests were reported taking the daily positivity rate to 1.28%.

Experts said that the BMC should increase the number of tests. Dr Madhav Sathe, former professor of microbiology at BYL Nair Hospital said, “The cases may be going down, but we are witnessing a surge in daily positivity rate in urban centres compared to that of rural areas. The reason for the increased positivity rate is people moving around. In the past few days, there have been several relaxations, and this could have led to a surge. However, I feel that the number of tests in the city is low.”

Sathe added, “I strongly feel that as Diwali is nearing the civic administration should increase testing.”

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner of the BMC said, The testing more or less remained the same. The cases are also almost the same, but currently, the testing may be less due to festivals and again around Diwali, testing will be less, and gradually it will increase. Citizens have to continue following Covid-appropriate norms.”