Sharpest 1-day spike takes Mumbai past 10K cases; India crosses 50K

769 INFECTIONS IN CITY Mumbai’s tally rises to 10,714; quicker doubling of cases in India big worry

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Mumbai, the Indian city worst hit by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, crossed the dreaded mark of 10,000 cases on a day the country’s tally, too, went past a grim point of 50,000 infections.

On Wednesday, the financial capital reported its highest singleday jump of 769 infections, taking its case count to 10,714, while India registered 3,490 cases, increasing its tally to 52,967. The spread of the infectious disease across India has largely been pushed by urban hotspots in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi, the three worst-hit states.

Mumbai took 57 days to reach 10,000 cases — 31 days for the first 1,000 and 26 for the next 9,000 (see box). Maharashtra took 53 days to get to 10,000 infections, while India took 74 days for the same.

As of Wednesday, Mumbai accounts for 63.93% of Maharashtra’s total infections (16,758), and 19.20% of India’s tally. Mumbai also reported 25 deaths on Wednesday, taking its toll to 412, which is 63.28% of the state’s figure of 651 fatalities.

However, according to experts, Mumbai, the second-most crowded city in the world, has fared better than cities across the globe in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic

A recent analysis by a thinktank, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), of the top 10 most-affected metropolitan areas (including New York, London, Madrid, Lombardy, and Ile De France), reveals that urban agglomeration accounts for 32.19% of the total cases recorded in all countries and 29.53% of total deaths, on an average.

However, as of Wednesday morning, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), which includes the city and its neighbouring areas, accounted for 25% of the total cases in India and 26% of the deaths in the country.