At 602, Mumbai sees most Covid cases in a day since October

Although the city has recorded a surge in Covid-19 cases for the three consecutive days, the state reported a dip on December 23 as the daily count dropped to 1,179 from 1,201 on December 22, the highest one-day surge reported since November 17.

State health officials attribute it to violations of Covid-19 appropriate behaviour among the public.

“It is too early to call it a third wave but certainly, there is a surge across the state. People aren’t following safety rules like wearing masks and avoiding crowded places, which is making the virus more transmissible,” said Dr Gautam Bhansali, in-charge of private Covid-19 beds.

Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner, BMC said that due to rigorous surveillance of international fliers at Mumbai airport and contact tracing of infected passengers, the number of positive cases has increased.

“With eyes on Omicron, we have increased surveillance on international fliers. In fact, we have asked ward officers to further intensify testing and screening with Christmas and New Year round the corner,” he added.

Dr Rahul Pandit, member of the state Covid task force, told The Indian Express, “The next two-three weeks will be essential to ascertain the situation. Along with this, more focus needs to be laid on genome sequencing to understand which variant is contributing to the spread.”