Mumbai logs 2,510 new cases, Delhi 923 in massive spike
In an alarming development, Maharashtra and Delhi on Wednesday recorded massive spike in Covid-19 cases driven by a surge in Omicron infection. While Mumbai logged 2,510 cases on Wednesday, Delhi recorded 923 cases. The two cities saw a 70 per cent and 50 per cent jump respectively over a 24-hour period.
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said it was alarming that in Mumbai 2,200 people out of 51,000 tested positive. The positivity rate stood at 4 per cent.
“Positivity rate is rising at an alarming rate. If the positivity rate goes to 5 per cent then there will have to be more restrictions like Delhi. People have to understand the concern with rising cases and crowding at wedding functions may not be a good idea,” Tope said.
Mumbai also saw an all-time high of 85 cases of Omicron, taking the total number of new Covid-19 variant cases to 252.
Of the 85 Omicron cases recorded, Mumbai accounted for the maximum of 34 cases, while Nagpur and Pimpri-Chinchwad recorded three cases. The break-up of cases in other parts of the State is as follows: Navi Mumbai and Pune Municipal Corporation (PPMC) two each, while Panvel, Kolhapur and Buldhana one case each.
Meanwhile, Delhi registered a massive spike in daily Covid-19 cases with 923 fresh cases on Wednesday, highest since May 30 while the positivity rate rose to 1.29 per cent from 0.89 per cent on Tuesday.
According to Covid-19 bulletin of the Delhi Government, 344 people recovered in the past 24 hour. Total 64,233 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, out of which 7,463 were rapid antigen tests, the health official said.
In a sign of worry, it has emerged that about 38 per cent of the total samples analysed at various genome sequencing laboratories in Delhi in the past one week have been detected with Omicron variant of Covid.
Sources said that of the 468 samples analysed during December 21-28, the Delta variant of coronavirus was detected in 31 per cent of these samples, and the rest constituted other variants including Omicron.
Cumulative cases in Delhi stand at 14,45,102 while the positivity rate at 4.44 per cent. Total 14,17,804 patients recovered, total deaths 25,107 and the case fatality rate is 1.74. Delhi has 2191 active cases. Of these, 1,068 patients are in home isolation. On May 30, Delhi had recorded 946 Covid-19 cases and 78 deaths with a positivity rate of 1.25 per cent.
On Tuesday, the city saw 496 Covid-19 cases and one fatality due to the disease. A total of 71,696 Covid-19 tests were conducted the previous day, the bulletin said.
“We are disheartened when we see crowding at markets and malls. We will have to shut down markets if this continues,” said Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. “I know you all are tired of restrictions, but it is important and there is nothing we can do about it,” he added.
Meanwhile, of the 85 cases of Omicron variant infections reported on Wednesday in Mumbai, 47 patients have been reported by the National Institute of Virology (NIV), while 38 have been reported by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER).
Of the 47 patients reported by NIV, 43 are international travellers and 4 are close contacts. The 38 cases reported by IISER are from community surveillance. The district-wise details are as follows: Mumbai-19, Kalyan Dombivli-5, Navi Mumbai and Pimpri-Chinchwad-3 each, Pune rural, Bhjiwandi-Nizampur, Panvel and Thane Municipal Corporation -1 each.
The following is the break-up of a total 252 Omicron cases recorded in the State so far, Mumbai-- 137, Pimpri-Chinchwad--25, Pune rural --18, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)-11, Thane MC--8, Navi Mumbai, Panvel and Kalyan Dombivli-7 each, Satara, Osmanabad - 5 each, Vasai-Virar--3, Aurangabad, Nanded, Buldhana, Bhiwandi--Nizampur-2 each, and Latur, Ahmednagar, Akola, Mira-Bhayandar and Kolahpur-1 each.
Of the total cases, 99 patients have been discharged after a negative RT-PCR test. Of the 26 cases reported on Monday, four are aged below 18 years, while two are above 60 years. Of the infected persons, 14 are male, while 12 are female
Of the infected, all except two patients have a history of international travel, while the remaining two persons are high-risk contacts of an international traveller.
Meanwhile, the authorities said the total number of passengers who arrived at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur airports since December 1 was 1,94,361 (27,107 from at-risk countries and rest 1,66,254 are from other countries), while passengers whose RT-PCR tests have been done are 37,847 (28,107 are from high-risk countries and 9470 are from other countries). Similarly, RT-PCR positive and samples sent for genomic sequencing was 286 (204 are from at-risk countries and 82 are from other countries).