Most cases, tests in Mumbai in March: Mayor warns of curbs on train travel, malls

Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Thursday hinted at strict restrictions, including shutting of malls, religious places and restrictions on travel in local trains, as the city reported its highest every cases – 8,646 – since the outbreak of Covid-19 on Thursday, along with 18 deaths

Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Thursday hinted at strict restrictions, including shutting of malls, religious places and restrictions on travel in local trains, as the city reported its highest every cases – 8,646 – since the outbreak of Covid-19 on Thursday, along with 18 deaths.

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The authorities have started testing aggressively since the past one week, taking the city’s tally between March 1 and 31 to 838,500 tests. This is the highest number of testing conducted in the city ever since the outbreak of the pandemic. March also reported the highest – over 80,000 cases – in one single month, followed by around 211 deaths in the city, according to the state health department data.

Pednekar, while speaking to reporters on Wednesday, said, “There are enough beds to handle the increasing number of cases, but we have to act wisely before the city enters the danger zone. The new restrictions that might be announced will have malls and religious places completely shut, followed by shops that might be allowed to open on alternate days. We might also allow local trains to be only used by essential workers owing to the increasing cases.”

However, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has maintained they have not decided about the lockdown yet. Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, said, “We have not received any directions on lockdown. There is no such directive or announcement yet.” The BMC officials claimed a final decision on restrictions might only be taken by weekend, after chief minister Uddhav Thackeray takes a review meeting on Covid-19 situation.

According to BMC officials, as the tests have almost doubled, the detection has also increased and the variations in mutants have added to the case tally. The mortality rate has, however, remained under control. Mumbai reported around 211 deaths in March 2021, whereas in September and October, when Mumbai was at its peak, it reported around 2,500 deaths with around 0.1 million cases.

Since February 3, 2020, Mumbai has tested 4.1 million tests and the positivity rate is around 10.04%, according to BMC’s data. March 2021 saw the highest spike in testing, when 838,500 tests were conducted, much higher than compared to the tests conducted during the peak in Mumbai. In September and October, when Mumbai was at its peak, the city tested around 0.7 million samples cumulatively.

According to BMC officials, the testing has increased in the city as the authorities have started random testing at malls, markets and other crowded places. Municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal had last week said, “We aim to test around 60,000 samples daily, which is around 50,000 right now, and with this, the daily caseload might also go up to 10,000 on a daily basis. However, this might not result in shortage of beds.”

As of Thursday, the city has recorded 423,419 cases and 11,708 deaths. The city’s recovery rate is 84% with 355,944 recoveries, followed by the city’s mortality rate is 2.76. There are 54,807 active cases in the city.

Meanwhile, the BMC in a statement said that it has issued revised guidelines for home isolation of Covid-19 patients. In the guidelines, the BMC has listed out specific warning signs to be looked for immediate hospital transfer of patients under home isolation. The BMC has also asked its officers to ensure that home isolated patients monitor their health and take treatment for Covid-19 from their family physician and continue comorbidity treatment.

Some of the warning signs that would need admission include difficulty in breathing, oxygen saturation < 95% using fingertip pulse oximeter, persistent fever of 100.4 for more than 24 hours, persistent pain, pressure in the chest or cough, hypoxic on mild exertion like six-minute walk test, climbing 1 or 2 flight of stairs, mental confusion or inability to arouse, slurred speech, seizures, weakness or numbness in any limb or face, bluish discoloration of lips, face, any other new onset organ dysfunction, like hypotension, drowsiness, kidney dysfunction.