The numbers have been the lowest in November compared to the last five months
Passengers travelling to Panvel, Kalyan and Dombivli wait in a queue for ST buses at a Dadar stop
The Navi Mumbai and Panvel municipal corporation areas recorded less than 50 per cent daily COVID-19 cases and deaths in November as compared to the previous month. In fact, the numbers have been the lowest in November compared to the last five months. Though officials feared that festivities would lead to a spike in the numbers, the situation has proved otherwise.
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Passengers wait at the Panvel railway station. File pics
Sources said that the daily cases and deaths gradually reduced till the middle of November but there was a slight increase around Diwali. However, both the civic bodies had kept a close watch.
As far as Panvel is concerned, November was the best month for the area since July. It had recorded 4,377 cases in July and 4,982 cases in August. September emerged as the month with the most number of cases at 6,584, after which the numbers gradually decreased. October reported 4,276 cases and November 1,940. Also, COVID-19 deaths in November (25) has been the lowest since July when the area reported 88 fatalities. It is also almost 90 per cent less compared to October when 126 deaths were reported.
"The numbers are very encouraging. We were vigilant when massive crowds thronged markets during Diwali. Also, people became complacent when daily cases started to drop. In fact, on November 16, Panvel had reported only 19 cases. But we are glad that daily cases haven’t shot up post Diwali," said a Panvel Municipal Corporation official.
"If same trend continues for the next 15 to 20 days, we will be in a more comfortable position," he added. In the Navi Mumbai Municipal area, daily cases in November (3,730) were less than half of that in October (7,817 cases). Even November reported 88 COVID deaths compared to 154 in October.
Also Read: Navi Mumbai: Doctor suspended at testing centre over 'fake' COVID-19 negative reports
An NMMC official said, "As per our earlier discussion with health officials, we had set a December 15 deadline to see whether a second wave of the infection kicks in. We are almost half way to that date and there isn’t any significant rise in cases. Moreover, daily cases have dropped compared to October. Though COVID deaths continue to be a matter of concern."
"We had set a time-frame of 30 days after Diwali to find out if there is any surge or wave of cases. But half-way through, we are in a very comfortable position. The Test Positive Ratio (TPR) is unchanged and has stayed around 2.4. If citizens keep co-operating, we will be in good position after 15 days," said Abhijeet Bangar, commissioner, NMMC.
3,730
No. of cases Navi Mumbai reported in Nov
1,940
No. of cases Panvel reported in Nov
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