‘Impose lockdown if needed’: Uddhav Thackeray instructs local authorities amid spike in Mumbai cases – Times Now

Mumbai: Amid a sharp spike in new infections, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackery has instructed the local authorities to take whatever steps are required to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Mumbai, be it imposing a complete lockdown in the city.

“In Mumbai, cases are a bit higher. The Chief Minister has instructed all administration officers to take a decision on whatever is necessary; be it imposing a partial lockdown, increasing testing, or go for a complete lockdown,” ANI quoted Aslam Shaikh, Guardian Minister for Mumbai, as saying on Tuesday.

Mumbai had reported more than 1,000 fresh infections for the sixth consecutive day on Monday. With as many 1,008 cases, the total number of infected patients in the city has risen to 3,34,572, according to the health department.

The death toll has mounted to 11,504 after four more people succumbed to the viral infection in the last 24 hours, while 956 people getting discharged during the day took the recovery count in the metropolis to 3,11,407, as per the latest bulletin.

The average daily growth rate of Covid-19 cases in the city has increased to 0.31 per cent from 0.17 per cent on February 18, while the case doubling time shortened from 417 days to 225 days now, BMC data showed.

A total of 17,849 samples were examined on Monday, taking the overall number of tests in Mumbai to 34,34,610.

Dharavi sees highest single-day spike since Oct

In a worrisome situation for the authorities, Mumbai’s largest slum cluster Dharavi on Monday reported 18 new Covid-19 cases, the highest daily figure since October and a steep rise from the mostly single-digit cases it was logging over the past few days.

A senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official had said that the area’s caseload has gone up to 4,166.

“We are aggressively testing as many people as possible to curb the spread. Our teams are specifically identifying crowded areas including religious places and ensuring adequate tests are done,” the official had added.