The spurt has given rise to concerns if the anticipated third wave has arrived. Experts say it is premature to say that, but cautioned that a steady rise in cluster infections could usher it.
Over 55% of the new cases were reported from Mumbai. The city registered 896 cases as per state records, the highest in 205 days, while BMC said 922 cases were detected on Sunday (the discrepancy could be due to a lag in reporting). The rise in Maharashtra (1,648) is limited to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region largely that contributed to 72% of Sunday’s cases.
Commenting on third wave fears, epidemiologist Dr Chandrakant Lahariya said the epidemic curve was flat at the national level. “For states and cities, it is too early to say,” he said. (See graphic for reasons being attributed to the case spurt.) Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the Covid-19 taskforce, said that although Mumbai has been witnessing an exponential rise in cases, it can’t be said that the third wave has arrived. “We have to watch the situation for the next two weeks. A continued rise in cases has the potential to trigger the third wave,” he said.
Mumbai’s positivity rate, which hovered around 0.4% in the beginning of the month, has jumped almost five-fold to touch 2.6%. Dr Joshi said the sequencing of samples from non-travellers will provide a clearer picture about the strain circulating at present. “Fortunately, Covid deaths are not too high,” he added.
On Sunday, Maharashtra added 17 deaths, a tad higher from 12 recorded on Saturday. The state’s cumulative deaths have now reached 1,41,433. After a day of reporting zero deaths, Mumbai registered two fatalities. The city’s Covid toll has now reached 16,370. Active cases in Maharashtra inched closer to 10,000 (9,813), while that for Mumbai reached 4,295.
Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani said a combination of reasons could have led to the rise. There have been several cases where foreign returnees tested negative at the airport and subsequently positive at home when tested after a few days. “Some of them could be actively spreading infection before we are able to detect them. Our data shows that over 80% cases are coming from building residents and not slums,” he said. While hospitalisations have increased marginally, there has been no significant rise in critical cases.
Joy Chakraborty, COO of PD Hinduja Hospital, said that from 4-5 daily admissions seen a few weeks ago, the numbers have increased to 11-12 now. “But ICU admissions have not seen any major shift,” he said.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/over-55-of-states-covid-19-spurt-on-sunday-reported-from-mumbai/articleshow/88511341.cms
