Lockdown in Mumbai, City Logs over 20K Covid Cases Today

Mumbai on Thursday logged 20,181 new COVID cases, this is about a sharp 25% rise compared to yesterday's tally

City’s municipal commissioner said, Mumbai has no plans to shut down even as it reported a high number of cases 

Mumbai on Thursday saw a sharp surge in daily COVID cases by logging over 20,000 infections in a span of just 24 hours. Taking note of the massive spike since the last two weeks, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar had earlier declared that the maximum city is likely to go into a lockdown if and when the daily Covid cases breach the 20,000-mark. So, is Mumbai staring at lockdown?

What municipal commissioner said today?

City’s municipal commissioner while speaking to Bloomberg News said, Mumbai has no plans to shut down even as it reported over 20,000 cases on Thursday

Mumbai has already banned large gatherings and also put restrictions on the number of people that can attend events. No lockdown and no further restrictions are planned even if cases were to rise, Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said

Although fresh cases of the Omicron variant have soared, “only 5%" of patients required medical help and most recovered faster, Chahal said.

Here is what Mayor had said?

On Tuesday, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar had said. “We will have to impose lockdown in Mumbai if daily COVID cases cross the 20,000-mark."

She had also suggested that people wear triple-layer masks while traveling by public buses and local trains. The mayor had also appealed to citizens to get vaccinated at the earliest and follow all COVID-19-related standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Driven by the Omicron variant, the city has been witnessing a massive surge in cases in the past weeks. Mumbai today logged 20,181 new infections on Thursday, this is about a sharp 25% rise compared to yesterday's tally. On Wednesday, the city reported 15,166 fresh COVID-19 cases, while 10,860 cases were logged on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Covid task force member Dr Shashank Joshi took to Twitter to say, Mumbai expected to cross 20k cases today,  stay home if not essential, properly mask and stay connected with your doctor if symptomatic. Be Vigilant, Be Alert Stay Safe. Most cases are still mild. Protect the vulnerable. Be Responsible.

What Maharashtra Health Minister said?

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday asserted a 100% lockdown is not required as of now but stressed on the need to impose restrictions wherever there is crowding.

Tope said the silver lining is that 90% of the cases are asymptomatic. Of the 10% symptomatic patients, only 1% to 2% require hospitalisation.

“The Task Force has used the term augmented restrictions, which means if the cases rise like this...we don't have to use the term lockdown. 100% lockdown is not certainly required as of today," the minister said. 

Augmented restrictions mean that non-essential activities have to be stopped. “Wherever crowding takes place, there have to be restrictions, but it is not the case that it (curbs) should be brought today," Tope said on Wednesday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Scrabbl staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)