Maharashtra reported more than 3,000 cases after 20 days on Wednesday, with 3,451 new infections and 30 covid-19 deaths being reported in the last 24 hours, pushing its tally to 20,52,253, with 51,390 fatalities. However, health experts have attributed this surge to the non-adherence of the covid-19 norms by the citizens in some districts of the state. Moreover, they have also hinted the resuming of suburban services in Mumbai can be one possibility in a surge of cases.
Mumbai, meanwhile reported more than 500 cases in the last 24 hours, with 558 new cases and four COVID-19 fatalities on Wednesday, increasing the total count to 3,13,206, with 11,400 deaths till now. Meanwhile, the doubling rate has dropped to 555 days from 560 which was two days before, while the weekly growth rate has increased to 0.13 per cent.
Experts are not comfortable with the overall progress, saying that the state is still in a dangerous situation as cases are not going down. They further warned that this situation may change for the worse as people have become careless about following Covid-appropriate behaviour.
Dr. Rahul Pandit, member of the state covid-19 task force said the SARS-CoV-2 virus has not gone completely from the country for which each and every individual need to follow covid-19 protocols to protect themselves and the community. Moreover, it is shocking Mumbai has witnessed a surge in cases, while some parts of the state are still witnessing an increase in numbers.
“I agree the situation [Covid-19 cases] is not improving, but the position we are in is better than before. It is going to take some more time before we have full control of the situation. The vaccination drive, as it reaches the common people, will start showing positive effects,” he said.
“Even though we are in a better situation than what we were in May and September, strict masking and social distancing need to be continued. Whatever we could achieve so far is because of the relentless efforts of our civic staff. We now want to focus on vaccination and ensure that we scale up our vaccine centres for a smooth implementation,” said Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner.