Covid-19: BMC to watch out for December surge as more international tourists expected in Mumbai

MUMBAI: The BMC on Monday said it will watch out for any rise in Covid-19 cases and any possibility of a new variant next month following the expected increase in travellers from abroad for Christmas and year-end festivities.
The BMC said there has been no visible rise in cases after Diwali so far. However, the civic body said the 14-day Covid cycle ends around November 20 and it would continue testing aggressively to monitor the situation.
Civic officials said they will be as vigilant in December as they expect an increase in overseas travellers.
Recently, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said with the ministry of aviation allowing airlines to operate at 100% of their scheduled capacity and the Christmas season lined up, passenger traffic is inching towards pre-Covid levels. It is a known fact that due to Covid restrictions, several overseas travellers had been unable to visit Mumbai last year.
Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner in charge of the health department, pointed to news reports that Mumbai airport has been witnessing a record number of passengers. “In December we expect an increase in international travellers landing in the city either to meet families or as tourists, considering that travel restrictions have eased and also a large number have been vaccinated. Besides, socialisation may also be at its peak. Any new variant may be enough to rock the boat and therefore we will be monitoring it very closely. We would be requesting testing of travellers and also appeal to those with even the slightest symptoms to get tested,” said Kakani, adding this is one of the reasons why they have been conducting cyclic genome sequencing, which is a study of changes in the structure of the virus over time at regular intervals.
Officials said increasing vaccine coverage of the city’s population is encouraging. The BMC is taking various steps to increase vaccination, including calling citizens who may have missed their second dose, holding vaccine-on-wheel camps around high footfall areas and encouraging housing societies to inform them in case anyone has missed their dose.