MUMBAI: While state health minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday said Omicron-Covid cases in the state had dipped by almost 50% in the past fortnight, the daily tally rose by 12%. From 24,948 cases on Friday, the daily tally increased to 27,971.
Daily deaths in the state, though, registered a drastic drop—61 on Saturday as compared to 103 on Friday. “Some fluctuations in daily tally could happen, but the Omicron wave is on the decline across the state,” said a senior state health officer.
In Mumbai, too, cases registered a slight increase (7.5%) as the daily tally rose to 1,411 from 1,312 on Friday. Daily deaths in Mumbai remained steady, with 11 registered on Saturday.
“We expect Covid cases to drop below 1,000 within the next few days,” said Suresh Kakani, BMC additional commissioner.
“As it is already the fourth week of the Covid-Omicron wave, we expect the death toll too to drop to single digits within a week’s time,’’ said Kakani. The daily toll in Mumbai was in single digits for almost five months since August 2021, before rising to 11 on January 15.
The BMC Covid update showed that only 6.5% of the total available Covid beds in the city were occupied as on Saturday as compared to 16% until a fortnight back. The number of ICU patients stands at 769 as against 900-plus a week back.
The BMC has already advised jumbo centres, which are the main hospitals admitting Covid patients, to keep the minimum number of wards open.
A senior state official said any decision on relaxing existing restrictions on travel and entertainment would be taken after the state Covid-19 task force meeting on Monday.
While Mumbai circle reported 3,456 cases, the Pune circle numbers increased to 11,086. Cases in most other circles, including Nagpur and Nashik, are showing a decline.
Meanwhile, the genomic surveillance report on Saturday found 85 patients with Omicron infection in the state. These cases have been reported by the Pune-based Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research. While 44 cases are from Pune municipal limits, 39 are from Mumbai and one each from Pune rural and Akola. The state’s Omicron tally has increased to 3,125 so far.
