Mumbai is one of the big cities where the cases of Kovid are seeing a big increase. (file)
Mumbai:
Amid fears of a third Covid wave, Maharashtra has witnessed 198 fresh omicron cases as it recorded 5,368 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, a 37 per cent increase compared to yesterday. The new version has been labeled as “highly contagious” by experts.
Mumbai also saw a huge jump once again with 3,671 infections – 46% more than yesterday. Of 190 cases, the city also recorded most of the fresh Omicron patients in the state.
This afternoon, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray met the state’s Kovid Task Force. One of the key discussions at the high-level meeting was over the new variant, which is believed to be driving up the infection in the state, which has the highest number of cases (66,65,386) in the country.
So far 450 patients affected by Omron have been registered by the state. India has registered over 960 cases of the new variant.
The daily surge in Covid cases in India’s financial capital has seen a five-fold increase over the past week – the city reported 683 infections last Friday.
Fearing a fresh coronavirus wave, the city’s civic body – the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation – has reactivated its ward-level war rooms to deal with the rising number of cases.
These war rooms have been set up in all the 24 wards to manage hospital admissions, oxygen and drug requirements and immunizations. War rooms – which follow a “test, trace and treat” strategy – also keep track of patients isolated in their homes.
While the cases are rising, the Mumbai civic body has said, more than 90 per cent of the cases are asymptomatic. Despite a ban on large gatherings ahead of the New Year celebrations, the streets are still witnessing huge crowds.
Meanwhile, the central government has said that it is prepared to deal with the spike and “there is no need to panic”.
Delhi, Gurgaon, Kolkata and Bengaluru are among other big cities that have seen a spurt in infections in the last one week.
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