Maharashtra crosses 6,000 new Covid cases after 83 days

Mumbai reported five deaths, taking the city’s Covid toll to 11,437. Mumbai has added 4,408 fresh cases in the past seven days

Maharashtra on Friday saw an 83-day high in new Covid cases, as it crossed the 6,000 mark, with 6,112 cases. Mumbai, meanwhile, reported 823 new Covid cases, the highest in 77 days. Despite the surge, the health department and experts on the state-appointed panel are not calling it another wave, and are confident of containing it with measures, higher testing and wider tracking.

BMC marshals fine those not wearing a face mask at Bandra, Bandstand. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

The state’s Covid death toll rose to 51,713 with 44 fatalities reported on Friday. Mumbai reported five deaths, taking the city’s Covid toll to 11,437. Mumbai has added 4,408 fresh cases in the past seven days. Its surrounding cities – Thane, Navi Mumbai and Kalyan-Dombivli – have added 800, 663 and 748 new cases, respectively, in the same period. The rise in the city and Mumbai Metropolitan Region is being attributed to opening of local trains for general public since the beginning of February.

The cases in Amravati, Nagpur, Yavatmal, and Pune continued to remain high. Amravati added 623 new cases — the third highest in the state on Friday, after Nagpur which clocked 630 fresh cases. Amravati’s rural areas reported 132 new cases. Pune city reported 535 new cases, while its rural area saw 211 new cases. Pimpri-Chinchwad reported 259 new cases. Yavatmal added 258 fresh cases.

The health department on Friday issued a statement saying no foreign strain of the virus causing Covid-19 has been found in Amravati and Yavatmal districts of the state so far. The statement was issued after news reports and speculations suggested a mutant strain similar to one found in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil was found in the state.

Following the spike in cases, the state health department and local administrations have swung into damage control mode. In the districts where the cases have shown a surge, local administrations have decided to introduce stringent restrictions.

Schools and colleges in Wardha district of Maharashtra have been ordered to remain closed until further notice, district collector Prerna Deshbhratar said.

Weekend lockdown, excluding emergency services, will begin at Amravati and Akola from 8pm on Saturday and will go on till 7am on Monday. This is to check crowding at market places during weekends.

Yavatmal district has already imposed a 10-day lockdown since Friday. Schools for students of Classed 5 to 9, colleges, and coaching classes in the district will remain shut till February 28, district officials said.

Experts said the situation is still under control. A senior bureaucrat said the measures are largely similar to those being followed by administration for the early part of the pandemic. “Since CM’s review [on February 16], the districts have been asked to become more vigilant. There is nothing beyond the three Ts — tracking, testing and treatment. The districts have been told to impose restrictions depending on the severity. The mutation of the virus in some parts of the district has led to a faster spread. Micro containment zones should be marked to keep the spread in that pocket,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

State health secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas said that district collectors and municipal commissioners are already directed to track at least 20-30 contacts within the first 48 hours of identifying the index case.

Vyas, in a letter to district administrations on Wednesday, said the number of tests per day for Covid needs to be at least 20 times the new cases coming in that district or municipal corporation. All symptomatic cases necessarily need to be tested on RT-PCR and use of Rapid Antigen Test be kept minimum to the extent possible. “There is a definite increase in the number of new cases over the past one week and we need to be alert, as at present the number in absolute terms seems small but the nature of infection is such that if appropriate containment measures are not taken immediately, the cases are likely to rise exponentially,” Vyas said.

The state’s statement said, “Four samples each from Amravati, Yavatmal and Satara have been tested at BJ Medical College in Pune. According to test reports, no change has been found in the genetic sequence of the virus in the samples taken from these districts.” Twelve samples from Pune have also been tested in this medical college and no change in genetic sequence has been found in them either, it added.

“Further investigations are underway and some more samples from Akola, Amravati and Yavatmal districts have been sent to the National Institute of Virology and National Institute of Cell Science, Pune for genetic testing. A detailed report in this regard is expected by next week,” the health department said.

Dr TP Lahane, director of Medical Education and Research, said although the cases are on the rise in Mumbai and in districts such Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal etc., it cannot be called a second wave. “In any epidemic, there are troughs and crests. There was a decline earlier, now it is increasing, but it is not a second wave,” he told reporters.

Dr Shashank Joshi said, “We want to prevent another wave; this is not second wave. There will be a small peak which can be prevented. Micro-containment will help. The lockdown that is imposed [in the districts] will also help.” He added people should avoid traveling unless necessary, while masking is absolutely mandatory. He further said the people need to remain more vigilant for the next 15 days.

Meanwhile, on Friday 14,880 beneficiaries got inoculated across 413 centres in the state. The health department attributed the low numbers to public holiday. Of the ones inoculated, 12,032, including 7,661 frontline workers, got their first shot, while 2,848 healthcare workers got their second dose. So far, 854,985 beneficiaries have been inoculated. A health department official said, “We are confident that the turnout will pick up. Those who think that vaccination is not of any help should reconsider. Even though there were isolated cases of some doctors getting infected after the first dose, the vaccine is important to build herd immunity. With vaccine shots, nearly 80% will remain protected against the virus. Those who might get infected after taking the vaccine, too, will only have mild symptoms.”