Vasai-Virar breaches 10,000 mark; Panvel lifts lockdown on Wednesday

MUMBAI/NAVI MUMBAI: Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) on Tuesday became the fifth civic body in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to breach the 10,000-mark in Covid-19 cases. Mumbai had crossed the 10,000-mark in the first week of May, and Thane and Kalyan-Dombivli on July 4 and July 8. Navi Mumbai crossed the grim milestone on July 15. Largescale testing has been attributed to the rise in cases. Between July 1 and July 20, VVMC tested 28,411 swab samples. The total positives have now touched 10,017, including 190 new cases.
The first Covid-19 case in the region was reported on March 13. There were only six positive cases till March end. In April, 2,976 swabs were tested and the cases surged to 158. In June, 25,167 samples were tested. By July third week, another 25,000 samples were tested. The deaths in Vasai-Virar have touched 192. The active cases are 3,244. More than half the patients (6,581) have recovered. The region has been under partial lockdown with 29 hotspots sealed since July 15.
Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC), meanwhile, has decided to lift the lockdown from July 22 instead of July 24 announced earlier by the civic body. However, curbs will continue in cluster containment zones (nine) and individual containment structures (691) till July 31.Non-essential shops will be allowed to operate between 9 am and 5 pm under an odd-even pattern. However, the Panvel APMC market yard and fish market will remain shut till July 31 midnight. The lifting of the lockdown was advanced to 5 am on July 22 as neighbouring corporations had lifted the lockdown and residents were complaining about repeated extensions.
Meanwhile, the NMMC reported 254 cases and seven deaths on Tuesday taking the tally to 11, 966 and toll to 352. The PCMC area reported 112 cases and three deaths taking the total to 5,102 and toll to 121.
A comparison between the two civic corporations in Navi Mumbai shows a contrasting picture. NMMC, which had 6,605 cases on June 30, is yet to double cases, with the total at 11,966 on July 21. In PCMC, which had 2,141 positives on June 30, the numbers doubled to 4,335 by July 15. While Panvel has started free antigen tests for symptomatic persons at the six fever clinics, there is a shortage of lab technicians. PCMC commissioner Sudhakar Deshmukh said, "We will be inviting applications to recruit lab technicians. We are procuring 10,000 testing kits to ensure every citizen visiting the fever clinics can avail the test facility."
Inputs by George Mendonca