Daily case average dips to 1,200
Number dips in 2 weeks, despite liberal testing, opening up; Wed an exception with 1,310 cases
MUMBAI: In the past two weeks, Mumbai has seen an average of 1,200 Covid-19 cases per day, and a total of 16,822 cases, a drop from a fortnight ago, when the average daily cases stood at 1,300, according to figures from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The dip comes amid the liberalisation of testing and more lenient phases of Mission Begin Again, indicating the situation in Mumbai is gradually improving almost four months after the lockdown was imposed on March 23. However, on Wednesday, Mumbai saw 1,310 new Covid-19 cases, and 58 deaths, pushing the case count to 104,678, the toll to 5,875. The number of active cases stood at 23,393. The recovery rate was 71.7%, and fatality 5.6%. Mumbai has so far conducted 450,459 tests, with a positivity percentage of 23.
Since Sunday, for three days in a row, Mumbai’s daily cases have been below the two-week average of 1,200. On Tuesday, Mumbai recorded 992 new cases. It was the fifth time in July that the city saw less than 1,000 cases a day. On Monday, the city recorded 1,035 new cases, and on Sunday, 1,037.
“This is a sign that the situation is stabilising, it is too early to say if it is declining. As and when more opening up happens, we will be able to get a clear picture. This is seen throughout Mumbai in all wards, and growth rate is consistently falling, from 2.2% to 1.1%. Some wards have a growth rate below 1%. Hospitals now have more vacant beds too. On Wednesday, cases were a little more, but one single day there could be a spike, as it depends on how many people get tested,” said BMC’S deputy executive health officer Dr Daksha Shah.
Shah also said, “Even though testing has liberalised, we can say with some certainty that there are not many symptomatic people out there, who feel the need to approach a lab and opt for a test. That is also a good sign.”
However, on Saturday, the number of cases in a single day was 1,186. Last Friday, the number was 1,214. The highest number of single day cases reported this week was 1,476, on July 16, followed by 1,347 on July 15. Moreover, July also recorded the lowest number of cases since May, 785 cases on July 7.
Mumbai liberalised testing on July 7, allowing any person to approach a laboratory and get a Covid-19 test done, without a doctor’s prescription. BMC expected Covid-19 cases to increase following this, but the trend has not emerged yet. Municipal commissioner IS Chahal told Hindustan Times last week, “I was expecting the cases to increase as testing has increased, Even though testing has gone up by 2,000 to 3,000 per day, our cases have gone down.” Mumbai conducts an average of 5,000 to 7,000 tests per day.
According to the latest available figures from Tuesday, the doubling rate in Mumbai was 59 days and average growth rate 1.17%. On July 7, a fortnight ago, the doubling rate was 45 days, and the growth rate 1.54%. Another fortnight ago, on June 24, the doubling rate for the city was 41 days, and the growth rate was 1.72%.