102 Covid cases in Mumbai, task force says make masks mandatory at malls, cinema halls

Mumbai Covid-19 update: The city also continued to record more than half of the state’s new coronavirus infections. On Tuesday, across Maharashtra, 153 cases were recorded, out of which Mumbai accounted for 66 per cent of the cases.

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As of Saturday, there are 2,772 active cases in the state. According to the state health department’s report, there are 312 active cases in Pune, and 1,929 in Mumbai. There are 310 cases in Thane. (PTI)

After the third wave of Covid-19 ebbed, Mumbai recorded over 100 cases for the first time on Tuesday. With a daily positivity rate of 1.4 per cent, the city recorded 102 cases. The last time it had witnessed 100 cases was on March 2.

This comes on a day when the state’s Covid-19 task force conveyed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that masks should be made compulsory at confined places such as cinema halls, drama theatres and malls. It also said that while vaccination drive should be expedited, the focus must be on genome sequencing.

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Healthcare worker administers Covid vaccine at a centre in Mumbai. (Express photo by Amit Chakravarty)

The task force’s recommendations assume significance ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s virtual meeting with all chief ministers on Wednesday to review the Covid-19 situation.

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On Monday, Mumbai reported 45 cases. On April 20 and 21, it had recorded close to 100 cases — 98 and 91 — respectively.

Post the rise in cases, the BMC had asked its officials to remain vigil, increase testing and strengthen contact tracing. Since then, the BMC’s testing figures have remained below 10,000, with an exception on April 24, when 10,946 tests were conducted. In the last six days, at 5053, the lowest number of tests were conducted on April 25.

Expressing concern over the low number of Covid-19 tests being conducted, the task force members have said that currently, an infected person is carrying out a rapid antigen test and avoiding RT-PCR tests. “There is a need to be more careful, as some mutations of the virus may occur. Not all viruses are as mild as Omicron, so masks and vaccinations are the most effective solution,” said a member of the task force.

“The task force said that the use of masks is a must and at least it should be made mandatory in confined spaces… it should be made mandatory for all to wear masks, especially in places like cinemas, theaters and malls considering the risk of infection,” said an official.

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