3rd lockdown: City saw 11K cases
FROM MAY 4 TO MAY 17 At the end of the second lockdown on May 3, cases in Mumbai stood at 8,800, with 343 deaths
The city saw 11,350 more Covid-19 cases and 391 deaths during the third lockdown from May 4 to May 17, according to data from the state health ministry. Maharashtra saw 20,079 cases with 630 fatalities during the same period.
At the end of the second lockdown, on May 3, the cases in Mumbai stood at 8,800, with 343 deaths. On the last day of the third lockdown on Sunday, Mumbai saw 1,595 cases, the highest single-day spike, which took the total to 20,150, with 734 deaths. However, civic authorities said of the new cases, 590 tested positive between May 10 and 14, which was reported by the labs on the ICMR portal and included in Sunday’s report. Maharashtra’s case count was 12,974 with 548 deaths on May 3, which went up to 33,053 with 1,198 deaths on May 17.
Mumbai’s Dharavi reported 44 new cases on Sunday, taking the count of coronavirus patients to 1,242. According to data from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Sunday evening, 56 Covid-19 patients have died in Dharavi so far.
The civic health department feels the situation would have worsened without the lockdown. Daksha Shah, deputy director health department of BMC, said, “The basic principle behind the lockdown is to break the chain of the virus. It is not the only solution to deal with the coronavirus. Without it, the scenario could have been far worse. Cases are rising against increased testing, but our doubling rate is improving. From last week, it has been between 11 and 12, better than last month’s nine.”
Till May 16, 4,806 people have recovered and have been discharged. In the past one week, the city has witnessed a huge jump in the cured category.
BMC, has decided to increase the bed capacity to one lakh, in view of the rising numbers, said civic commissioner IS Chahal on Sunday. “BMC has increased the bed capacity to 50,000.We will soon achieve the capacity of one lakh beds,” Chahal told reporters.
The parking facility near the Mumbai airport can be used to put 50,000 beds. Two parking lots near Santacruz and Breach
Candy Hospital would be used to put up beds for quarantine.
There are around 690 containment zones in the city. “There were some 1,500 buildings where one or two persons tested positive, but the entire 10-15 storey structure was declared a containment zone, requiring more police staff. So we changed the definition from the entire building to the floor and its sanitisation will be undertaken by the civic body. It has reduced the requirement of police and they have been deployed at other places,” said Chahal.
The ambulance strength has been increased to 350 from 80. Moreover, BMC has brought 50 doctors from Wardha and 100 more from Beed will join the civic staff soon. At least 2,000 doctors have committed to volunteer.
On Sunday, in a surprise visit, the civic commissioner reviewed the measures taken by the civic body at Sion hospital, Shivajinagar and Govandi, and also discussed various issues with Sion hospital staff.
COVID TEST REPORT AWAITED