Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the city of Mumbai have increased significantly over the last few weeks during the second wave of the infection. Experts believe that the number of cases would have to reduce before the situation becomes alarming, and keeping this in mind, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) along with the state government of Maharashtra is planning to implement strict rules for the city.
As per reports, officials are considering ways to revise guidelines for offices and businesses along with controlling crowd in temples and market. Decisions are being taken about managing public and private events.
Cases in Mumbai have risen drastically whereby over 1700 cases were observed in a single day on March 12, 2021, whereas coronavirus cases in Maharashtra have also increased to over 15,000 in a day with more than 80 deaths.
Observing this pattern, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and other ministers from the cabinet have been meeting regularly to decide to the next steps. Meanwhile, the CM has repeatedly appealed to the citizens to ensure they follow the guidelines and help in curbing the spread.
On the vaccination front, the government has also increased the number of hospitals which can now offer vaccination to the selected citizens. As per the current plan, authorities are focused towards vaccinating more than 1 lakh people a day, and hospitals with over 50 beds can be a part of the drive too.
As of now, the next phase of lockdown has been imposed in several cities of Maharashtra and the local bodies have been asked to control the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, decisions are being taken about Mumbai, Thane and nearby areas. New norms of containment zones will soon be announced by the state government.
While talking about controlling the cases, Dr Sanjay Oak, State Task Force head, in an interview with the TOI said that the situation can be termed 'under control' only when 80 per cent of the population in Maharashtra is inoculated. However, as of now, the situation is not closer to the figure and hence not under control. Addressing the question about the new strain, he said that there has been nothing related to the spoken about COVID-19 mutation has been presented to the task force yet and there has been no question.
Another official from the state task force said that around 20,000 tests are conducted in Mumbai and MMR regions and the rise in COVID-19 cases could be due to the reduced number of tests. However, on the positive front, the positivity rate in COVID-19 patients has increased to seven per cent from previously mentioned two per cent. To keep up the same, government has stated that an area would be sealed if more than 15 COVID-19 cases are found.
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