Monday sees zero Covid cases in Thane, Navi Mumbai cities

For the first time in two years, since the onset of the Covid pandemic, the cities of Thane and Navi Mumbai reported zero Covid cases on Monday; this, despite the number of tests conducted being on par with the last two weeks’ testing figures

For the first time in two years, since the onset of the Covid pandemic, the cities of Thane and Navi Mumbai reported zero Covid cases on Monday. This, despite the number of tests conducted being on par with the last two weeks’ testing figures.

Children in the 12-14 years age group line up to get vaccinated in Thane. Thane has vaccinated 98% of its target population with both the doses. Thane and Navi Mumbai cities recorded zero Covid cases on Monday, the first such instance since the pandemic broke. (PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT PHOTO)

The data submitted by the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) and the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), on Monday, claimed that both the cities had zero positive cases and zero deaths on Monday.

TMC has been conducting 500-700 tests on an average this month. On Monday, 514 samples were tested in Thane City. NMMC, on the other hand, conducted 6,235 tests on Monday, out of which none of the samples tested positive.

Thane city reported its first case on March 12, 2020, when a then 36-year-old resident of Ghodbunder had returned from France and tested positive. Till March 21 this year, the city recorded more than 1.83 lakh Covid positive cases and 2,127 deaths. The health infrastructure, in terms of a pandemic, has improved from zero to more than 8,000 Covid beds in the city.

Sandeep Malvi, additional municipal commissioner, TMC, said, “The city has recorded zero cases for the first time since March 2020. However, we have not let our guard down. People will have to continue wearing masks while we continue to test those with symptoms. The city has vaccinated 98% of its target population with both the doses. This has helped lower the cases and the deaths in the city.”

Thane, at present, has 25 active cases while merely five people are admitted in various Covid hospitals in the city.

Navi Mumbai had its first case on March 13, 2020. A Filipino resident had tested positive in Vashi following which the Vashi General Hospital was converted into a Dedicated Covid Hospital. Since then, the facilities kept increasing as per the rise in cases and need of the hour.

On Monday, after three waves of Covid and 2,049 people dead, Navi Mumbai reported zero positive cases after testing 6,235 people. Of these 6,235 tested, 2,564 had undergone RT-PCR while 3,671 did Rapid Antigen Test. There are currently 98 active cases of Covid positive patients, of which only two are admitted in hospital.

Of the 18 Covid facilities that were kept ready by NMMC for the third wave, only one is working currently. “The war room, too, has been shut as it is not feasible to keep it running without any requirement. We are now over burdened with facilities and equipment and we are yet to make a decision on what has to be done with them,” NMMC commissioner, Abhijit Bangar, said.

Even as the cases have gone drastically down with none on Monday, Bangar has said that it’s not the end of the pandemic. “The pandemic is still there and people need to continue taking precautions along with getting vaccinated,” he added.