Mumbai: Mandatory to undergo antigen-tests or carry negative report for those visiting malls, shopping centres

A frontline worker gets a vaccine at Nair hospital on Thursday. Pic/Ashish Raje

A second COVID-19 wave has hit Mumbai and Maharashtra hard. The city saw the highest single-day count of 2,877 new cases on Thursday, surpassing the October 7 peak of 2,848 fresh infections. Across Maharashtra, the figure zoomed to 25,833, the highest single-day number so far.

As they scrambled to get a grip over the situation, city administrators blamed carelessness on the part of citizens over the past four months for the massive spike. They have appealed to Mumbaikars to not step out unless it is absolutely necessary.

With the addition of 25,833 new cases, the state's tally since the beginning of the pandemic has touched 23.96 lakh. In a small reprieve, fatalities have seen a slight dip since the last two days, while the mortality rate has remained steady at 2.22 per cent. In the 24 hours up to Thursday morning, there were 58 COVID-related deaths in the state, taking the total to 53,138 fatalities.

The number of deaths due to other causes in the state was 1,284.

The BMC has now made it mandatory for those visiting malls and shopping centres to undergo antigen-tests or carry a negative report. A detailed order regarding this is expected on Friday, which was confirmed by Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani.

He said, "In a meeting with the experts, the rise in the number of cases was discussed and we have decided to ramp up the testing. With increased testing, the numbers in cases too are bound to be higher and it could go past today's figures, but we want to focus on picking out those affected people from the community who could be the source of spreading the virus."