Mumbai sees over 3K Covid cases for third day in a row

On Tuesday, Mumbai’s Covid tally stood at 3,69,451. Eight deaths from Covid-19 were reported, taking the death toll to 11,604

With 3,514 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, the city reported more than 3,000 new cases for the third consecutive day, taking the number of active cases to 26,599. Addressing this spike, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has prohibited Holi celebrations on March 28 and 29 at public places. A circular to this effect was issued by the civic body on Tuesday evening.

Mumbai sees over 3K Covid cases for third day in a row

On Tuesday, Mumbai’s Covid tally stood at 3,69,451. Eight deaths from Covid-19 were reported, taking the death toll to 11,604. The city’s case fatality rate is 3.1%. There were 3,779 and 3,262 new cases of Covid-19 reported on Sunday and Monday respectively. Sunday’s caseload is the highest single day total since March last year. While Holi celebrations have been prohibited this year, municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal on Monday that there were no plans to impose a lockdown in Mumbai at present.

BMC has increased the number of tests conducted daily from 25,000 to 50,000 tests. It has also decided to accelerate vaccination in the city. The number of hospital beds reserved for Covid-19 patients has been increased.

To reach its target of vaccinating 1,00,000 people every day, BMC has directed all private hospitals to aim towards vaccinating 1,000 beneficiaries per day and take measures like operating vaccination centres from 9am to 9pm to meet the target. Dr Rahul Pandit, who is part of the state Covid-19 task force, said, “Considering office hours, we can extend the timings beyond 5pm, as the timing of 9am to 5pm is not practical. It is possible to change the slot altogether from 9am to 5pm to, say, 2pm to 9pm, so that people can visit vaccination centres with their parents after working hours.”

BMC is awaiting the Centre’s approval to start 20 more vaccination centres at private hospitals. At present, the maximum number being vaccinated daily in the city is between 42,000 and 45,000. On Tuesday, 37,120 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 103 vaccination centres in Mumbai, of which 32,122 received the first dose and 4,998 received the second dose. Of those vaccinated on Tuesday, 20,550 were senior citizens and 4,535 were citizens above the age of 45 years who have co-morbidities.

Dr Sanjay Pattiwar, “There is a need to educate people that the vaccine is a good weapon which can control the disease. It will prevent complications arising from the disease. And vaccination will definitely decrease mortality due to Covid-19. People still have misconceptions about the vaccine.” So far, BMC has vaccinated a total of 9,39,188 beneficiaries, of which 8,09,276 have got their first dose, and 1,29,912 have been given their second dose. Of these, 4,40,844 are senior citizens and 70,793 are citizens above the age of 45 years with co-morbidities. From Monday, BMC has started conducting random rapid antigen tests at public places such as malls, supermarkets and markets. Each of the 24 wards have been given a target number of tests that should raise the city’s daily test count to 47,800. On Monday, 15,771 tests were conducted at public places. The highest were at K/East ward, which has jurisdiction over Andheri, where 1,600 tests were conducted.