MUMBAI: Maharashtra reported a slight increase in daily Covid case detections, while Mumbai, for the second day in row, registered over 300 cases.
The state added 6,695 cases and 120 deaths on Thursday, taking the overall cases to 63.3 lakh, including 2,231 ‘old’ cases added to the cumulative tally as part of the reconciliation exercise, and the total fatalities to 1,33,530.
With the steady decline of the second wave, the city registered 327 fresh cases and nine deaths on Thursday. “Our aim should now be zero deaths. That is the target to achieve before saying we are getting better,” said Dr Shashank Joshi, who is a member of the state government’s task force on Covid-19. With this, the total cases in the city touched 7.3 lakh and the total deaths rose to 15,929.
Joshi said despite high testing (34,145 tests), detections were low. “The decline of the Covid wave is clear, but we must remember that Covid hasn’t gone away yet. With cases rising in neighbouring states, we have to be vigilant for another two months, especially since the festival season will begin next month,” he added.
The effect of easing the restrictions should be apparent in another two weeks. “But if we observe Covid-appropriate behaviour and step up vaccination, the next month or two could be peaceful,” he added.
State government officials also said that with the easing of relaxations, people have started stepping out in bigger numbers and so health officials have been asked to ramp up testing and implementation of Covid-appropriate behaviour like wearing of masks and avoiding of crowds.
