No lockdown needed in Mumbai despite surge in cases: BMC chief Iqbal Chahal

There is no immediate need for imposing lockdown or additional restrictions in Mumbai as the bed occupancy rate oxygen requirement and number of Covid19 deaths are low municipal commissioner Iqbal Chahal saidDuring the first and second waves the decision to impose lockdown was taken on the basis of case positivity rate but this criterion cannot be applied for the third wave which started on December 21 2021 Chahal told a Marathi news channel No further restrictions were needed to be imposed on travel by local trains as only fully vaccinated people are being allowed to board the trains he saidldquoThe criterion in the first and second wave was the positivity rate But in this wave of Omicron variant of the virus two new criteria should be occupancy of hospital beds and oxygen requirementrdquo Chahal said The administration has so far imposed only a few restrictions such as ban on assembly of five or more persons during night time and shutting of schools in the city he said Of over 20000 people who tested positive for coronavirus in Mumbai on Thursday only 1180 were hospitalised and 110 were on oxygen support the BMC chief saidAs many as 5900 out of 35000 hospital beds are occupied at present he said ldquoAt least 83 per cent beds are currently vacant and oxygen requirement is not even 10 per cent During the second wave we used 235 MT oxygen per day Considering these factors there is no need for lockdown in the current situationrdquo Chahal said ldquoLockdown cannot be imposed only on the basis of numbers Covid19 cases It depends on how many beds are vacant in our hospitals how much oxygen is required and how many deaths are taking place These are more importantrdquo he addedHe conceded that since December 21 last year the positivity rate has gone up significantly But in the last 16 days the city recorded only 17 deaths Active cases have crossed one lakh but the death rate is only one per day he said ldquoWe are keeping a close eye on the situation I personally review things three to four times a dayrdquo the commissioner said Only unvaccinated Omicron patients are seen to be requiring oxygen support he notedThe civic body chief however warned against complacency Omicron infection is not like flu but it is a virus he said urging people to follow Covid19 appropriate behaviour and use masks When a person tests positive using a selftesting kit the information gets updated on the ICMRs website and through it the BMC gets information Chahal saidMeanwhile Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar has said that there are no plans of imposing a curfew on weekends And PM Narendra Modi will have a review meeting with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on the Covid19 situation via video conferencingNo decision yet on weekend curfew Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a review meeting via video conferencing with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray this evening on the COVID19 situation Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar pictwittercomqtRi3gHAtsmdash ANI ANI January 7 2022On Thursday 3800 people in Mumbai used selftesting kits and 288 of them came out positive This number was included in the daily tally he said adding that the civic body too has ramped up testing from 40000 to 70000 samples per dayThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever