The city, which recorded nearly 3,000 cases on Thursday, could well be into the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many areas in the western and the eastern suburbs are registering more cases than they did last October, during the first peak. Dharavi, which became a success story after shedding its hot spot tag last year, has started seeing a massive spike in cases. The BMC fears the cases in slums are going to shoot up in the coming days, and is reopening quarantine and isolation facilities for a likely surge.

With the COVID-19 cases rising sharply in Dharavi, the BMC fears other slum areas would see a surge too, and suspects hospital beds may start filling up again, and the city would have to rely on isolation and quarantine facilities. While the cases started rising in February, the sudden spike over the past few days became a cause of concern for the civic body.