Maharashtra / Lockdown in Mumbai if daily COVID-19 cases cross 20,000-mark: Mayor

Amid rising cases of COVID-19, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Tuesday said lockdown will have to be imposed in the city if daily cases cross the 20,000-mark. "People should not crowd and should follow COVID-19-appropriate rules. No one wants lockdown, but for that people should follow the rules," she added. Mumbai reported 8,082 new coronavirus cases on Monday.

Mumbai: Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar warned on Tuesday that a lockdown will be imposed in the city if daily cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cross the 20,000-mark. The number of Covid-19 cases has seen a rapid increase in Maharashtra and its capital Mumbai is among the leading contributors in the state-wide tally.

On Monday, Mumbai recorded 8,082 new Covid-19 cases, the highest daily count since April 18, 2021, and two deaths. In the last one week, the metropolis has logged a 10-fold rise in fresh cases of the viral infection.

For now, the civic body has decided not to put any restrictions on suburban train travel. Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), said on Monday that the Maharashtra government will take a decision on the issue in consultation with the state task force on Covid-19, if needed.

The BMC has issued fresh guidelines in view of the surging cases of Covid-19 in Mumbai. It has directed sealing of buildings if more than 20 per cent of the occupied number of flats has Covid-19 patients.

The guidelines came into effect from Tuesday (January 4).

The BMC further notified that Covid-19 patient and contacts shall strictly follow the current guidelines of home isolation and hygiene etiquettes while in home quarantine.

Maharashtra’s infection tally on Monday reached 6,712,028 after 12,160 fresh cases were recorded within a span of 24 hours.

Dr Pradeep Vyas, additional chief secretary for health said that going by projections prepared by the state health department, by the third week of January, active cases may reach up to 200,000 and breach 300,000 by the first week of February.

He, however, said that it would be too early to say definitively that the daily caseload would reach 100,000 in the peak, as cases are rising only in some districts and not in the entire state.

Maharashtra was hit by the second wave in February 2021 and experienced a peak two months later. In the second wave, the highest one-day tally was 68,631 cases reported on April 18, and highest tally of active cases went up to 699,858 reported on April 22.