Officials from the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) are concerned about a surge in coronavirus cases over the last 10 days. The number of daily cases as well as active cases has gone up significantly over the past couple of weeks.
Civic authorities blamed the state’s unlock protocols as well as the protests going on over the naming of the Navi Mumbai International Airport for the surge in cases. The region had 1,113 active cases on June 16 while daily cases averaged at 60. However, a fortnight later, daily cases have surpassed 100.
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“According to the data, the cases are definitely rising, and the trend is observed in all areas,” an official from the NMMC said.
“Active cases are going down everywhere except in Navi Mumbai. This means something has gone wrong. This could be because of unlocking, reduced fear of Covid-19, a false sense of confidence due to vaccination. The rally, which happened 10 days ago, can definitely be a big reason too,” another official said.
Speaking on the situation, NMMC Commissioner Abhijit Bangar said, “We are closely monitoring the situation. The rise which we are observing now is due to targeted testing at many places. The reason behind this is a sense of fearlessness among people. We haven’t observed any impact of the airport agitation till now. We are starting testing at city’s gaothans to know the spread from tomorrow.”
NMMC was allowed to open at Level 2 since the relaxations went into effect in early June. Among the permitted establishments were malls and theatres. However, the detection of the Delta Plus mutation across Maharashtra meant that rules had to be changed, restricting shops and other businesses to remain open only until 4 PM. Non-essential shops were forced to close on the weekends.
Separately, a protest demanding the Navi Mumbai International Airport to be named after activist Dinkar Balu Patil was carried out in Belapur on the 24th of June. Estimates suggest that over 40,000 people participated in the event with people coming from regions like Thane, Palghar, Nashik, and Raigad. It’s important to note that experts and civic officials had warned that such an event could turn into a super spreader event.
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