COVID-19 spike: Next 10 days very crucial for Maha, Mumbai

A day after the city and state reported the highest singleday spike in COVID-19 cases after three months, the officials and experts have warned that the next ten days are very crucial for Maharashtra and Mumbai if the citizens do not adhere to the COVID protocols strictly.

Officials said the cases have increased due to aggressive testing but this time everyone has to be very serious with coronavirus protocols. Moreover, all the ward officers have been directed to adopt appropriate preventive measures to curb the cases. Health experts have urged citizens to avoid gatherings at public places and follow social distancing norms otherwise cases will increase which will be the sign of the second wave and restriction will be the last option.

Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner, said there is no need for imposing lockdown now as the cases rose due to aggressive testing and increase in number of contact tracings.

In the last three days, more than 50,000 COVID tests have been done in the city, of which nearly 3,000 cases have been reported with a positivity rate less than 10 per cent.

“We are urging citizens to follow COVID protocols as we do not want the same situation as it was in June, July and September when cases were on peak. Moreover, we have intensified all our protocols to curb the cases and have alerted all the ward officers to take strict action if the cases in their area have surged,” he said.

Dr Subhash Salunkhe, technical adviser to the state government on COVID-19, said it is very difficult to say whether this is a second wave, but the virus is showing a concentrated spurt in some areas like Vidarbha, starting from Nagpur, Amravati to Aurangabad (located in Marathwada region). Now, the virus is slowly getting transmitted to other districts like Pune and Mumbai,