Local trains, laxity fuel spike

Maharashtra, the state worst-hit by Covid-19 in India, is again seeing a resurgence of new cases bringing an end to a threemonth-long plateau, two weeks after the state government started relaxing norms of social movement, including the wider restart of local trains in Mumbai.

This spike in cases is particularly noticeable in Mumbai and surrounding areas, and is being attributed by experts to the resumption in local train services since February 1, lifting of most curbs in recent weeks, and laxity in Covid-appropriate behaviour.

In the past week, the state reported 21,356 new infections of Covid-19 – the highest in any week since the week ending January 17. On Sunday, the state reported 4,092 new cases – the highest single-day cases since January 6. And on Monday, when number generally dip due to drop in testing numbers over the weekend, there were 3,365 new cases – the most reported on a Monday since January 4.

The state government insists that it won’t be reimposing restrictions on movement in the immediate future. State health minister Rajesh Tope said they see reimposition of curbs as the last resort.

However, state deputy chief minister and finance minister Ajit Pawar said they may have to take some harsh decisions as people have “stopped following Covid-appropriate rules”.

The state government has directed all district collectors and commissioners to strictly follow the “3T principle (testing, tracking and treatment)” and take measures to ensure Covidappropriate behaviour is followed. The health minister also said they have directed officials to increase testing at locations where they notice a rise in cases.

In Mumbai, this resurgence in cases has come two weeks after the local trains, considered the lifeline of the city, were restarted for the general public from February 1. General public is now allowed to travel from the first train of the day till 7am, 12pm to 4pm, and post 9pm till the last train. In the last two weeks, at least 15 million people have travelled on the local trains, according to official figures.

There is no cap in Mumbai for passengers per coach in local trains. Social distancing norms such as masks and social distancing have been requested, but not enforced. In contrast, Delhi Metro enforces a limit of 50 persons in a single coach, queue management outside stations and members of a special task force conduct visits on stations and trains to fine passengers violating mask and social distancing norms.

Officials from BMC said they are having second thoughts about any further relaxations in local train timings for the general public. BMC additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani said, “We are not taking any decision yet. We will monitor the situation until February 22.” The city has been reporting over 500 cases since February 10, and on Sunday, the city reported 645 Covid-19 cases on Sunday followed by four deaths. Overall, the city has reported 314,076 Covid-19 cases and 11,419 deaths. Mumbai is one of the worst-hit regions in the country with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 3.63% — more than double the national average of 1.43%.

Tope dismissed the idea of suspending local train services. He said that they have started local train services only recently and that too with staggered timings to avoid crowding. “We are monitoring the situation and see no reason to take extreme steps immediately... It has certainly alarmed us... (But) lockdown restrictions and suspending local train services would be the last step,” he said.