Another Wednesday spike: Mumbai records 624 Covid cases, max in 90 days; deaths up too – Times of India

MUMBAI: The city recorded 624 cases on Wednesday, the highest in 90 days, even as the state (2,876) continued to register fewer than 3,000 cases for the fifth day in a row. After two days of registering two deaths each, the daily toll too rose to seven in the city. Fatalities in the state also jumped to 90 from 39 on Tuesday.
“This could be the Wednesday effect that we have been noticing for some time now,” said BMC additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani. The Covid week in Mumbai has now acquired a distinct pattern – “lows” on Mondays and “highs” on Wednesdays. Last week, the lowest tally was 376 on September 27 (Monday) and the highest (525) was on September 29 (Wednesday).
An explanation could be that the number of daily tests is higher on weekdays and drops on weekends: Monday’s tally, for instance, reflects the fewer tests on Sundays. On October 4, the tally was 341 after 28,223 tests conducted on Sunday. Wednesday’s high of 624 came from 39,569 tests the previous day.
“We will closely monitor cases for the next two days to ascertain if there is any other cause for this increase,” said Kakani. The BMC has been testing people returning to Mumbai in higher numbers over the last few days. “The number of flyers being tested has gone up as air travel has opened too,” he said.
In fact, the third batch of sequencing at the BMC’s new genomic laboratory will begin on Thursday with a sizeable sample taken from international flyers who tested positive. “We should have the results by Monday,” said Kakani.
According to the weekly Covid report presented to the cabinet, the weekly growth rate of cases in the state has dropped to 0.04% and there are 11 districts with a growth rate higher than the state’s average. The weekly positivity rate has dropped to 2.07% and 10 districts have a higher rate. Sindhudurg, Pune and Nashik districts have reported the highest weekly positivity rates between 3-5%.
Officials said average tests conducted by the state have dropped from an average of 1.5 lakh to 1.2 lakh in the last few days. “With the festive season approaching, districts have been asked to scale up testing,” said an official.