Mumbai reports 3,671 Covid cases in a day; new wave can be worse, warns mayor

Mumbai on Thursday saw another massive spike in daily Covid-19 cases after the city recorded over 3,600 cases in the last 24 hours.

According to the state's daily health bulletin, 3,671 fresh COVID cases were reported, taking the total tally since the outbreak of the pandemic to 7,79,479 in the city. Out of the total cases in the city, Dharavi has recorded 20 cases, the highest since May 18.

Along with that, 371 recoveries were also reported today, taking the total number of patients recovered from the virus to 7,49,159.

There are currently 11,360 active cases, the bulletin stated.

"Around 4,000 cases were reported in Mumbai today. Today’s positivity rate is 8.48%. SGTF kits must be used to differentiate between Omicron & Delta plus variants. Vaccination drives to be done at full speed, everyone must be fully vaccinated," Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said later.

Tope also urged everyone to avoid crowding and follow guidelines to avoid infection., adding that students (15-18 yrs) should be taken in batches to vaccination centres. "This will result in a high rate of vaccination. Schools will not be closed as of now," he added.

Amid the spurt in cases, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar warned earlier today that the new wave of the coronavirus pandemic could be worse than the earlier two waves, while appealing people to follow the norms.

The new wave could be more terrible, therefore Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself was issuing alerts to the states, Pednekar told reporters.

Earlier variants of the coronavirus infected mostly adults, but the latest variant is also infecting children, she added.

Meanwhile, an emergency meeting of the Maharashtra COVID-19 Task Force is underway and is chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The meeting was held in view of rising COVID-19 cases in the state.

On Wednesday, Maharashtra recorded a spurt in new COVID-19 cases at 3,900, including 85 of Omicron. With the addition of 3,900 cases, which were detected after 1,23,248 coronavirus tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, the statewide infection count shot up to 66,65,386, the health department said. State capital Mumbai also recorded a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases by clocking 2,510 infections, the highest daily addition since May 8, the civic body said.

The state recorded 20 fresh deaths, taking the number of fatalities to 1,41,496, the health department said in a bulletin.

Around 4000 cases were reported in Mumbai today. Today’s positivity rate is 8.48%. SGTF kits must be used to differentiate between Omicron & Delta plus variants. Vaccination drives to be done at full speed, everyone must be fully vaccinated:Rajesh Tope,Maharashtra Health Minister

I urge everyone to avoid crowding & follow guidelines to avoid infection. Schools students (15-18 yrs) should be taken in batches to vaccination centres. This will result in a high rate of vaccination. Schools will not be closed as of now: Rajesh Tope, Maharashtra Health Minister