Mumbai records 13,702 infections in 24 hours; 46,406 new infections in state – Hindustan Times

Mumbai on Thursday reported 13,702 new Covid-19 infections in a 16% fall from Wednesday’s 24-hour tally. The case positivity rate stood at 21.73%. On Wednesday, Mumbai reported over 16,000 fresh cases.  For the last few days, Mumbai’s 24-hour tally has been oscillating making it difficult for data scientists to figure out whether the third wave in the city is ebbing. After crossing the 20,000-mark, the city’s 24-hour tally decreased to 19,474 and then it sharply fell to 13,648 cases. On Tuesday, it further fell to 11,647 cases.

Maharashtra on Thursday reported 46,406 fresh infections and 36 deaths in the last 24 hours. This is a slight decrease from yesterday’s 24-hour tally of 46,723. There were no new cases of the Omicron variant reported in Maharashtra. Till date, a total of 1,367 patients infected with Omicron variant have been reported in the state, and of these, 775 patients have been discharged following a negative RT PCR test, according to the state health bulletin.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday said there is no decline in Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra. “In the past two-three days, the reporting of COVID-19 cases might have come down. It may be because of the low testing. On Wednesday, the state has reported around 46,000 new COVID-19 cases. So, there is no indication of flattening of the curve in Maharashtra.” The Indian Council of Medical Research has mandated that only symptomatic people will get tested for Covid. While this will naturally bring down the number of tests done in a day, it is likely to increase the test positivity rate as the majority of the people who will get tested will emerge as positive cases. 

As Mumbai’s daily cases fell from 20,000 to 11,000, Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar on Wednesday said the numbers of Covid-19 cases and Omicron cases were slowing down in the city.