Mumbai: City on road to being Covid-free

A man undergoes a COVID test. File pic/Shadab Khan

Mumbai is close to becoming a Covid-free megacity, with nine big wards reporting zero cases for a week while others seeing 1-6 infections. According to BMC's report, heavily populated suburbs like Borivli, Kurla, Chembur and Goregaon did not see even a single case from December 4-10. Health officials say Covid-19 is now in an endemic stage.

Since the outbreak of novel Coronavirus in March 2020, Mumbai has confirmed 1,154,997 infections and 19,744 fatalities from the respiratory disease.

"There was a day when the city reported more than 20,000 cases in a day, but now, both the spread and intensity have gone, so we are seeing cases in single digit. The good news is that many civic wards are getting free of Covid-19," said an official.

A man being tested for Covid-19 in Malad. File pic/Satej Shinde

According to the BMC's records, of the total 24 wards, nine have not reported a single new case from December 4-10. These are Kurla (L ward), Kandivli (R-South ward), Byculla (E ward), Colaba (A ward), Chembur East (M-East ward), Borivli (R-Central ward), Marine Lines (C ward), Chembur West (M-West ward) and Goregaon (P-South ward).

During the same period, at least six wards reported just one case.

Also read: Thane sees 3 new Covid-19 cases, active tally at 36

According to the experts, Covid-19 has now entered an endemic stage, which needs an official confirmation from the World Health Organisation.""We are detecting 20-30 cases after doing around 2,000 tests a day" said an official of the BMC's health department, requesting anonymity.

BMC's Joint Executive Health Officer Dr Daksha Shah said, "The transmission of the virus has reduced and people are also vaccinated. This might be why the number of cases is going down. Moreover, after multiple mutations, the seriousness of the disease has also gone down."

Dr Kedar Toraskar, critical care specialist and a member of the state Covid Task Force, said, "We can't say the pandemic is over. The number of tests done daily has gone down. Nowadays, hardly any hospital is conducting as many tests as they did before. Hence it is difficult to say that the pandemic is over. Since January, we are seeing Omicron and its sub-variants dominating the infections, and these haven't been replaced by any new variant. However, the virus is behaving like the flu and people are recovering quickly and without any complications. The recent deaths have been due to other health issues along with Covid-19."

Dr Gautam Bhansali, coordinator of a private Covid-19 hospital and physician at Bombay Hospital, said, "The pandemic is not over yet. Covid-19 is in the endemic stage, though it has not been declared officially yet. The virus is behaving like the flu. There is no severity and many civic wards are seeing not a single case. It is a good sign, and we can hope for the number to further go down."

08
No. of cases Bandra West reported from December 4 to 10

01
No. of cases Dadar reported from December 4 to 10

Cases in wards from December 4 to 10

Wards Cases
Matunga (F North) - 6
Grant Road (D) - 6
Khar (H East) - 5
Ghatkopar (N) - 4
Andheri West (K West) - 4
Bandra (H West) - 3
Mulund (T) - 3
Elphinstone (G South) - 2
Malad (P North) - 2
Sandhurst Road (B) - 1
Parel (F South) - 1
Dahisar (R North) - 1
Dadar (G North) - 1
Bhandup (S) - 1
Andheri East (K-East) - 1