Mumbai: Covid-19 cases on the rise, but most are showing mild symptoms, say officials

Although more than 3,200 cases were detected last week, only five to six per cent required hospitalisation. Those who had a travel history were admitted as a precautionary measure. The number of cases in the city has been rising for the last 10 days. There were 279 cases reported on December 16, which got doubled within a week. On December 22, the city reported 490 cases and on December 24, the number grew to 683. From December 15 to December 24, 3,499 patients were found to be infected with a daily average of 390 cases. The daily average in the first half of the month is nearly 201 cases. Though the cases are increasing sharply, the good part is that most of the cases are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, say officials.

On December 23, though the number of active patients rose to 2,813, almost 50 per cent more than the last week, the number of bed occupants did not increase sharply. On Friday, 1,086 beds were occupied out of 15,299 beds. "Cases are being reported from the time we increased tracing and testing. In a few cases, where the people had a history of foreign travel, close positive contacts of the persons were admitted in hospitals as a precautionary measure," said a BMC official.

Meanwhile, a lab in Dadar West sealed after 12 of its employees were found Covid-19 positive. A 44-year-old man, who worked in the pantry of Lal Path lab at Shankar Ghanekar Road, tested positive on December 22. "We tested 39 high-risk contacts. Twelve were found positive," said Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner of G north ward.

Cases in N Mumbai rise fourfold

In the last four days, daily cases in Navi Mumbai have increased four fold. Though close contacts of the sole Omicron patient have tested negative, officials have been asked to stay alert. "People have become lethargic and it's reflecting in the numbers," said an official. Meanwhile, NMMC has succeeded in vaccinating 85 per cent of its total eligible population on December 24. "We are conducting surprise tests at random locations," said Abhijit Bangar, Commissioner, NMMC.

- Anurag Kamble