New trend of rising COVID-19 cases in Mumbai to be clear after Feb 21: BMC

Physical distancing goes for a toss at CSMT on Thursday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

For the second consecutive day on Thursday, the city reported more than 500 COVID-19 cases. The continuous rise comes over a week after everyone was allowed access on local trains, But, the authorities on Wednesday denied any link between the two. For now, the BMC is monitoring the situation, the civic chief said. Meanwhile, the daily death toll in the city remained on the downward trend.

Fresh infections in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), however, dropped to about 900, on Thursday from 1,075 a day before. Of the 905 new COVID-19 cases in the MMR, the city accounted for 510, slightly lower than Wednesday's figure. Still, compared to last week, the figures in both the MMR and Mumbai are on the higher side. The city was reporting fewer than 450 cases in the first week of February.

A man in a PPE kit sprays disinfectant on a passenger's luggage at Dadar station on Thursday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said, "The BMC is closely monitoring the number of cases. There isn't a particular history of cases, and at least there isn't any information on a new strain. A clear picture will emerge around February 21, three weeks after local trains started for everyone."

With 15,688 tests conducted in the city on Wednesday, the test positivity rate (TRP) was 3.5 per cent. On Thursday, the TPR stood at 3.1 per cent with 16,492 tests. "We have increased testing and the TRP is still under control. The cases surged on Wednesday only after 20 days," said a civic official.

In the MMR, besides Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli recorded 64 cases, Thane 71, Navi Mumbai 82. Daily cases dropped slightly in these regions too.

The health department officials reported 3,297 cases and 25 COVID-19 casualties across the state. Pune circle reported 695 cases and Akola circle, including Amravati, registered 541 cases. Amravati district reported a surge with 277 new cases. In the city, three patients were confirmed dead from COVID-19. Of these three deceased, two patients had comorbidities and two were above the age of 60, and one was aged between 40 to 60. In the MMR, Kalyan-Dombivli reported one casualty and Raigad three.

On Wednesday, 624 patients were discharged after full recovery, and 1,413 patients were removed from the list of active cases upon reconciliation of data. Now, 5,252 patients are undergoing treatment in the city. Mumbai's doubling has taken a hit by dropping to 533 days from 565 on Monday. Across state, 6,107 patients recovered on Thursday, and active cases declined to around 30,000.