Daily Covid cases cross 500 in Mumbai, most in 2 months – Times of India

MUMBAI: Nearly a month since Covid curbs were eased, the daily tally in Mumbai crossed the 500 mark on Wednesday, rising to a two-month high of 515. The last time the daily tally was higher was on July 15 (528).

Daily detections in the state also reported a slight surge, resting at 3,783 cases and 56 fatalities.”Every Wednesday, we register a rise in cases as more people start coming for tests after the weekend dip in testing. We hope this rise is part of the same trend and not the beginning of an upward tick,” said a senior BMC official. Cases registered in Mumbai on Monday and Tuesday were 345 and 367, respectively.
The BMC’s public health department is not taking any chances. “We are worried about a rise in cases when people return from Ganpati festivities in Konkan or other areas. We have hence asked community health volunteers (CHVs) to seek such returnees and urge them to undergo tests,” said additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani.
Kakani, who took a review of nine wards, said there are no clusters but there have been small rises in cases in various localities. “We test high-risk contacts on the first or the second day of diagnosing a patient, and this helps us catch cases at the earliest,” he said. Meanwhile, at the state level, due to a dip in testing, the daily positivity rate is on the rise, currently at 2.62%. Also, the weekly growth rate of cases in the state as of September 14 was 0.05%. Eight districts have a higher growth rate, the highest being in Ahmednagar (0.23%). Also, 17 districts have a zero growth rate. According to a review of the Covid situation in the cabinet on Wednesday, two districts — Pune and Ahmednagar — have a positivity rate of over 5%.
Meanwhile, there is dip in active cases in the state, while, with an increase in daily detections in Mumbai, active cases in the city are on the rise. Mumbai has the third highest active cases in the state after Pune and Ahmednagar. Just a month ago, Mumbai did not feature in the top five. Health minister Rajesh Tope said the state is focusing on vaccinating as many people as possible to ensure that if there is a third wave, it is not severe.