Maharashtra reported a significant drop in fresh COVID-19 cases on Monday, with the state registering 51,751 Covid-19 infections and 258 related fatalities.
New cases in Mumbai also fell to 6,893, from the previous day’s 9,989 cases. There were 43 deaths.
Lower numbers at the start of the week are said to be due to lower testing numbers in the weekend.
Mumbai conducted 39,398 tests on Sunday, about 20 per cent less than during the week. BMC data shows the city’s positivity rate has been consistently above 15 per cent this month.
Across Maharashtra, 51,751 new Covid-19 cases were recorded, taking active cases to 5.64 lakh. Since Mumbai contributes one-fifth of the state’s daily cases, the state’s new caseload on Monday also fell by 10.5 per cent, down from 55,000-63,000 recorded every day in the last one week. At least 258 deaths on Monday took Covid fatality to 58,245.
Mumbai has 86,279 active infections now and over 20,000 are admitted in Covid care centres or hospitals. On Monday, 1,272 of them were critical and on ICU support.
From usually 50,000 tests in a day, Mumbai came down to 39,398 tests on Sunday. Civic officials said that lower tests were due to weekend lockdown and to allow laboratories to clear their pending sample backlog. Most BMC dispensaries were shut on Sunday and few private laboratories were only taking emergency swab collections.
The daily caseload is expected to rise during the week but will still remain lower than daily cases recorded in April first week. Until 10 days ago, the city’s daily caseload ranged between 10,000-11,000.
Since April 4, the state government introduced restrictions on public movement, shut down malls and restaurants, and made work from home for private offices compulsory. The effect of restrictions has been evident since April 8, when daily cases dipped slightly below 10,000.
The positivity rate on Monday was 17.5 per cent, slightly lower than the previous day (19.1 per cent). In the last four days, Mumbai has noted between 8,900 to 9,900 new Covid-19 cases.
The city’s daily death toll has increased significantly. On Monday 43 deaths due to Covid-19 were recorded, while on Sunday 79 deaths were reported. The city’s daily fatalities have jumped from 20-30 to over 40. Till now, 12,066 people have died due to Covid-19 in the city.
BMC plans to open a 600 bedded facility in NESCO. In coming days 325 new ICU beds will be added across city hospitals. Currently there are 141 hospitals treating Covid-19 patients in the city, and they have 3,777 beds vacant.
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