MUMBAI: Covid cases in Maharashtra rose marginally on Tuesday (2,844) as compared to the previous day (2,432), but the overall graph has been moving downwards since September 1 when 4,456 patients tested positive.
In Mumbai, cases ticked up from 376 on Monday to 394 on Tuesday.
“While Mumbai saw a marginal rise in cases just before the Ganpati festival due to the opening up of the mass transport systems, there hasn’t been a massive surge,’’ said Dr Rahul Pandit, head of intensive care in Fortis Hospital, Mulund, and member of the state government’s Covid task force. “If we manage to show restraint during the festivals ahead and there are no new variants of concern, we may be okay,” he said.
The increasing vaccination coverage, he said, is the biggest factor. “Even though the number of people under quarantine has increased, there is no corresponding rise in the number of critical patients or those needing ICU,’’ Pandit said. The number of critical patients in the city dropped below 300 (291) and only 502 out of the 2,204 ICU beds are occupied in the city.
According to a Covid presentation to the state cabinet, 1.6 lakh cases were detected in August, which fell to 96,947 till September 27. Similarly, deaths too dropped from 2,801 to 1,232. The state weekly positivity rate is 2.1% and there were nine districts where it is higher. Among them are Sindhdurg and Palghar.
