Mumbai: Daily Covid-19 cases rise 350 per cent in a week; 922 added on Sunday

Passengers coming out of the city’s international airport, on Sunday. Pic/Shadab Khan

In just a week, new Covid cases have exploded in Mumbai, registering a 350 per cent growth. The city recorded 922 fresh infections on Sunday, up from 204 on December 20, showed numbers released by the BMC. In February, before the onset of the second wave, cases had risen from 558 to 1120 in 20 days.

Mumbai's test positivity rate (TPR) too leapt to 2.65 per cent, with authorities carrying out 34,819 tests on Sunday. The lowest TPR of the second wave was registered at 0.28% on December 1. The city had reported 108 cases, the lowest, on December 1. On December 14, there were 225 cases, but the number began soaring soon after. It touched 490 on December 22 and nearly doubled in just four days.

The virus claimed two lives during the day. Both the patients were comorbid and above the age of 60 years. During the day, 326 people recovered and were discharged. The doubling rate dropped to 1,139 on Sunday from 2,563 days on December 14. The state health department said 1,648 cases were reported with 17 deaths across Maharashtra. As many as 918 patients recovered and got discharged on Saturday. The state has 9,813 active cases.

As per state numbers, 1,180 cases were reported in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region including the ones from Mumbai. Apart from Mumbai, Thane city reported 67 daily cases, the most number in MMR. It was followed by 66 in Navi Mumbai. While Panvel saw 40 cases, Vasai-Virar reported 20 cases each, Raigad recorded 16 cases and Kalyan-Dombivli reported 27 cases. MMR, excluding Mumbai, registered five deaths.

31 new Omicron cases in state, 27 in Mumbai

On Sunday, Maharashtra reported 31 more Omicron cases of which 27 are from Mumbai. Of the new cases, six patients are below 18 years and have not received the vaccination. Barring three from the rest, all are fully vaccinated. While 29 patients are asymptomatic, the other two have mild symptoms. So far, the state has seen 141 cases of omicron, including 73 from Mumbai. Of these, 61 patients have been discharged.

66,57,888
Total no. of cases in Maharashtra

1,180
Total no. of cases reported in MMR in the last 24 hours

02
No. of deaths in city on Sunday (Both patients had co-morbidities and were above 60 years)

326
Patients recovered and discharged in city on Sunday