Covid cases up 192% in Thane, 136% in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Palghar and Thane districts reported the highest jump in fresh Covid-19 cases at 350% and 192%, respectively, over the past week, shows the state's latest statistics. Mumbai saw the third highest weekly jump of 136% in cases.
The three districts, along with Raigad and Pune, have collectively seen over 136% rise in cases since the last week of May and are currently driving the surge in Maharashtra.

After four straight days of increase, the tally of new cases on Monday dropped to 1,036 in the state and 676 in Mumbai, mainly due to fewer tests on Sunday. No deaths were recorded in the state. Active cases, however, marked a 10% increase in the state over Sunday to touch 7,429 and 8% in Mumbai to cross the 5,000-mark (5,238).
City's weekly positivity rate at 8.8%, double that of the state
Mumbai: The state cabinet on Monday held a detailed discussion on rising Covid-19 cases, which have left Maharashtra with the second highest tally of active cases per million (53) population in the country. Only Kerala (264) is ahead of it.
Health minister Rajesh Tope told TOI that given the rise in the positivity rate in six districts, health officials have been asked to ramp up testing urgently. At 4.5%, the state's weekly positivity rate is steadily increasing. Mumbai (8.8%) and Palghar (4.9%) have exceeded the state average. Thane city on Monday registered a daily positivity rate of 20%, a near doubling from Sunday's 10%.
"The weekly positivity rate in Mumbai is almost double the state's average. We have asked the district administration to strictly increase testing in these districts," said Tope. The state is clocking around 25,000 tests daily. A civic official said hospitals have been instructed to carry out an RTPCR test for every individual coming with fever, cold and flu to boost testing figures.
Hospitalisations in Mumbai continued to mark a steady increase. On Monday, 54 patients were admitted to various Covid hospitals, taking the count of hospitalised patients to 219. Across Maharashtra, 254 patients are admitted due to Covid, said the state figures. "Only 1.04% (61) of the active cases are serious," said Tope. Three patients are on ventilator in the entire state, said officials, adding almost 96% cases are asymptomatic.
Tope said the state government has no plans of imposing any restrictions at the moment or bringing in mandatory masking. "We don't want restrictions to be imposed and that is why we are appealing to the public to follow Covid norms. We have recently seen that after a party in a producer's house, many Bollywood actors got infected. So, everyone must take precautions while attending mass events," he said.
Interestingly, the state Covid-19 task force is not on the same page and had strongly recommended mandatory indoor masking to the government. "Despite the rise in cases, there are hardly any people masking on the streets or inside public transport," said infectious disease expert Dr Vasant Nagvekar, a member of the task force.
Given the sharp rise in positivity, Thane municipal commissioner Dr Vipin Sharma held a review meeting. He said officials have been instructed to ensure testing increases, especially of contacts of any positive patient. "We will also step up vaccination drives in the city and appeal residents to take the jabs through door to door surveys," said Dr Sharma.
(Inputs by Manoj Badgeri)