Mumbai: Office-goers, air travellers among rising Covid-19 cases

Most Covid-19 cases detected in areas like Malabar Hill, Tardeo, Bandra, Andheri where people test before flying, returning to office

Mumbai has reported a rise in COVID-19 cases with daily cases touching 100 and the number of active patients rising to 415 from 357 in just two days. Most of these cases are from areas such as Malabar Hill, Tardeo, Bandra West and Andheri West and were detected while going through mandatory testing before or after travelling via air or joining office. On Wednesday the city reported 98 cases, of which one patient needed hospitalisation. 

Last month, the city reported 30 to 40 daily cases on an average. The daily tally stood at 83 on Tuesday. “It cannot be termed as a surge. There is a slight rise in cases and 99 per cent of them are asymptomatic and do not require hospitalisation,” said a civic official.
Prashant Gaikwad, assistant commissioner of D ward, said, “Most of the patients either have international travel history or got tested before travelling. But almost all of them are asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms.” 

Travellers arrive at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Wednesday. Pic/Sameer Markande

Most of the recent cases have been reported in three wards—D (Malabar Hill, Tardeo), H West and K West (from Bandra West to Jogeshwari West)—which also reported a high number of cases during the earlier waves. 

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has analysed 387 active cases till Tuesday, of which 64 are in H West ward, 37 are in D ward and 38 are in K West ward.  

Dr Ajit Pampatwar, medical officer of K West ward, said that apart from travellers, employees who are joining offline offices are also testing positive. 

Dr Sanjay Funde, medical officer from H West ward, said they have also noticed the same pattern in Bandra and Khar. “There are hardly a few cases which cannot be called a surge. Like earlier, these cases are detected after testing and are scattered,” he said. 

98
No. of cases reported in the city on Wednesday

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