Currently, Mumbai ‘s average growth rate of COVID-19 cases is 0.20 percent and the average doubling rate is 346 days, according to the data. Although daily cases of COVID-19 have increased in the city, the number of deaths remained low, around three to five per day, according to the data.
According to BMC officials, the increase in daily cases began in the second week of February. On Sunday, Mumbai reported more than 900 COVID-19 cases, compared to fewer than 500 daily cases in the first week of February.
Civic officials said there are several reasons for the increase in cases, such as people’s careless attitude towards COVID-19 protocols, allowing the general public to travel on local trains, the opening of shopping malls, offices, hotels and restaurants. BMC Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani said that as restrictions were eased, crowds were witnessed at various wedding functions, other social events and in shopping malls, restaurants, pubs and clubs.
The number of passengers on local trains also increased from 8 lakh (at the end of January) to 22 lakh (after all members of the public had permission in February), he said. “A lot of people are behaving as if the COVID-19 threat does not exist. They are not following protocols in public places,” Kakani said.
According to BMC, it has already increased daily COVID-19 tests from around 15,000 earlier this month to more than 22,000 now. “Among the positive cases, the number of asymptomatic people is higher,” Kakani said.
The civic body is also trying to find out if the virus has mutated. Kakani said they have already sent 90 samples to the Pune-based National Institute of Virology to check for any virus mutation.
It takes 10-15 days to get the institute’s report, he said. Since last week, the BMC has stepped up actions against those without masks in public places and has launched a crackdown on establishments such as wedding halls, hotels and restaurants that are found to be violating COVID-19 regulations.
The civic body has also filed police complaints against some establishments in recent days, authorities said.
Maharashtra’s Minister of Food and Civil Supplies Chhagan Bhujbal said today that he tested positive for coronavirus. Bhujbal is the seventh minister to be infected with the new coronavirus this month. In a post on Twitter, Bhujbal said that his health is fine. “I have tested positive for COVID-19. All those who were in my contact for the last two or three days should be tested,” he tweeted. “My health is fine and there is no reason to worry. All citizens must exercise due care in the context of COVID-19. They must wear masks and use disinfectants regularly,” added the PNC leader.
Earlier this month, Maharashtra ministers Anil Deshmukh, Rajendra Shingne, Jayant Patil, Rajesh Tope, Satej Patil and Bachchu Kadu tested positive for the disease. Last year, more than 12 ministers of state, including Chief Deputy Minister Ajit Pawar, contracted the viral infection. Lately, there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases in the state. On Sunday, Maharashtra reported 6,971 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the state’s infection count to 21,00,884. The state also reported 35 deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the balance to 51,788, according to official data.
Meanwhile, the United States faces a dark milestone this week despite a recent decline in COVID-19 cases as it prepares to mark a staggering half a million deaths, and President Joe Biden plans to commemorate the lives lost. While the number of COVID-19 cases fell for the fifth week in a row and officials rushed to inoculate the population, the nation was poised for 500,000 deaths from the highly infectious respiratory disease. Almost a year has passed since the pandemic brought the country down with economic and public health crises.
“It is nothing like what we have experienced in the last 102 years since the 1918 influenza pandemic … It really is a terrible situation that we have been through, and that we are still going through,” said Dr. Anthony. Fauci, the White House COVID-19 medical adviser and the nation’s top infectious disease official, told CNN’s “State of the Union” program on Sunday. The White House said Sunday it was planning a commemorative event at which Biden would comment.
A White House spokesperson said the president along with First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff would hold a moment of silence on Monday and that there would be a candle-lighting ceremony at sunset. Last month, Biden observed the COVID-19 deaths in the United States on the eve of his inauguration with a sunset ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool. Biden will use “his own voice and platform to take a moment to remember the people whose lives have been lost, the families who are still suffering … in what is still a very difficult time in this country,” said the spokeswoman for the White House, Jen Psaki. he told reporters on Friday.
Meanwhile, coronavirus cases in Italy are on the rise again, largely due to the more infectious British variant, a leading virologist warned in a newspaper interview published on Sunday. His comments came as Italians in various cities ignored official calls to stay home to get out and enjoy the unusually mild weather on the weekend.
“Obviously, I’m worried,” Massimo Galli, a specialist at Milan’s Sacco hospital, told the Rome-based daily Il Messaggero. “The resurgence of infections is largely due to the English variant.” To be honest, all the data goes in the direction of an increase in new cases, “he added. Although the Higher Institute of Health of Italy (ISS) appealed to On Friday people stayed home despite the forecast of a climate gentler, crowds filled the streets, parks, and boardwalks of various cities.
On Sunday, with the rise in variant cases of the virus, officials reclassified three more regions from moderate-risk “yellow” to higher-risk “orange” status.
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