Mumbai sees five-fold increase in covid cases

The Mumbai city recorded 505 new covid - 19 cases on Tuesday, showing a five-fold increase in cases in the past one month, increasing all India tally to 2745 new cases. On 1 May, 92 covid cases were recorded in the city.

The test positivity rate in the city has jumped to six per cent, the civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), said today. It has asked officials to immediately increase testing "on war footing".

Testing labs have also been asked to be proactive and fully staffed." Daily new cases have tremendously increased in Mumbai, with monsoon around the corner, we will now see a rapid rise in symptomatic cases," it warned.

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Iqbal Singh Chahal, BMC commissioner said that the jumbo facility at Malad will be put to use on priority for covid related hospitalisations.

The BMC has further instructed to ramp us the vaccination drive for teenagers and has also placed emphasis on booster dose delivery. It has asked both public and private hospitals to be on alert and increase bed capacity in case hospitalisations increase.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said there was no need to panic, but advised to follow covid related precautions and SOPs.

“Out of 36 districts in Maharashtra, only Mumbai and Pune are seeing a rise in the number of cases, but nothing to worry as such since the rate of hospitalisation is low,” he added.

Tope said, “The necessary arrangements are in place and there is no harm in keeping everything ready. The health department is monitoring the situation.”

The Maharashtra government had lifted all Covid restrictions, including the mask mandate, on 2 April, when the state celebrated ‘Gudi Padwa’.

[ With inputs from agencies]

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