18 days and counting, Mumbai's longest zero Covid death stretch

MUMBAI: The city has not reported a Covid-19 death in the last 18 days - the longest stretch Mumbai has gone without witnessing a coronavirus fatality in more than two-and-half-years. October saw one of the lowest Covid-19 death tolls as the city reported seven fatalities. Maharashtra registered 34 Covid deaths, its lowest monthly toll since April 2020.
In the state and the city, known cases of Covid are continuing to decrease. They now stand at their lowest in four months, although the actual tally is likely to be higher given how many people are doing home tests and not reporting results. Maharashtra reported 10,500 cases in October, barely 1% of the 10.4 lakh cases reported in January, when the Omicron-driven third wave struck. Mumbai's tally dropped to 3,467 in October, down by 36% from September and 83% from August.
Physicians told TOI that Covid-19 cases are few and far between. The occasional cases that turn out positive are incidental Covid, where the primary ailment is either a heart condition, stroke, or any other medical complication. BMC had cut down its Covid bed strength to 4,600, of which only 73 are occupied now; four patients are on a ventilator.
"Covid is down, and the incidence is at its lowest. It is clearly heading towards an endemic phase," said physician and intensivist Dr Khusrav Bhajan. A part of the state Covid task force , Bhajan said it would be advisable to continue with Covid-appropriate behaviour, such as masking indoors and hand washing, for another three to six months till Covid starts circulating like other endemic viral diseases such as H1N1. Dr Bhajan cautioned that Covid could see a five- to six-fold rise in winter.
The city has reported less than 100 cases for past two days. Due to fewer testing performed over the weekend, less th-an 200 cases were found in the state on Monday. Mumbai is carrying out an average of 3,500-4,500 tests daily. Despite that, positivity rate has been under 5%, an indicator that the transmission is low despite emerging variants. Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, who coordinates SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequencing in Maharashtra, said Omicron sub-variant XBB and BA. 2.75 are predominantly circulating sub-lineages, of whi-ch the former is rapidly gaini-ng dominance. "Our clinical evaluation of cases shows that though XBB has more mutat-ions, it has not led to any rise in hospitalisations or oxygen demand," he said, adding that the solid immunological wall created due to saturated vaccination coverage is helping.