COVID-19: BMC warns of worse as Mumbai touches 5,504 cases

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As the number of new Covid-19 cases in Mumbai reached the highest so far, at 5,504, and 14 fatalities, the BMC on Thursday warned that it was preparing for a worst-case scenario of recording around 10,000 cases per day in the near future.

BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Municipal Commissioner I.S. Chahal, while assuring that the "situation is under control and there is no reason to panic", said that the Health Department is gearing up to raise the total availability of Covid beds from 13,733 to 21,000 in the next two weeks in various hospitals in the city.

"This is assuming that the number of positives in the due course of time in Mumbai increases to 10,000 per day with assumption that 15 per cent of these would be symptomatic - and requiring beds as per ICMR guidelines," he said.

He pointed out that assuming every symptomatic patient requires a bed and considering a 14 days bed occupancy, the total beds needed to handle 10,000 cases per day for a period of next six to eight weeks would be around 21,000.

Chahal's statement assumes significance after Mumbai recorded 5,000 plus tallies - 5,458 on March 24 and 5,504 on March 25 - from 40,400-plus Covid tests.

The positivity rate is 12 per cent, the percentage of asymptomatic patients is 84 per cent, and preparations are on in full swing to cater to the expected increase of 10,000 patients daily of which 15 per cent would be symptomatic requiring hospitalisation as per ICMR norms, he pointed out.

On the brighter side, Chahal said that the mortality rate is low - 4.6 deaths per day or 0.3 percent of the total positive cases between February 10-March 25, when the purported 'second wave' has set in.

The BMC has already notched a million-plus vaccinations with plans to enhance the numbers, and has increased testing in hospitals and public places or crowded areas, though all Covid-19 protocols must be followed by citizens, he urged.

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