Second Covid Wave Has Peaked In Mumbai, Cases Likely To Start Declining: Health Expert

On Monday, Mumbai logged only 3,792 new Covid-19 cases despite 41,000 tests being conducted to detect the infection, a senior health expert said.

Outlook Web Bureau

Updated on: 26 April 2021 8:10 pm

Amid many states continuing to report a rise in the number of coronavirus infections, experts believe that the second wave of the pandemic has peaked in Mumbai and that the number of infections in the city might start reducing in the coming weeks.

This comes in the backdrop of Mumbai reporting only 3,792 new Covid-19 cases on Monday despite 41,000 tests being conducted to detect the infection, a senior health expert said.

Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the Maharashtra government's Covid-19 task force and a renowned endocrinologist, believes that the drop in infection rate is most likely due to the metropolis tackling the Covid-19 surge with the "ATM strategy", which is 'Assess, Triage and Transfer, and Management'.

"Mumbai drops to 3792 cases on 41 k tests clearly we r turning around with ATM strategy of Assess Triage and Transfer and Management congratulations team MCGM." he tweeted.

The number of Covid-19 infections have seen a decline in the country’s financial capital as Mumbai logged only 5,888 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, its second lowest daily rise since March 30.

As of Sunday, the city’s Covid-19 caseload stood at 6,27,651, with 75,740 active cases. The city also logged 12,783 fatalities till Sunday.

While Mumbai saw an addition of a record 11,163 cases on April 4, the numbers started dropping over the past few days.

Dr Joshi, who was mentioned in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' radio programme on Sunday, told PTI that Mumbai's second wave peak may be over and the flattening phase could have begun.

"During the first wave, Mumbai used to hardly conduct 15,000 to 18,000 tests. However, during the second wave, the test numbers range between 40,000 and 50,000. Mumbai has passed the peak as cases are plateauing, but the plateau could be longer," Joshi said.

He added that the second wave the country is facing is "more furious" than expected, which has been the trend worldwide, and appealed to people to adhere to Covid-19 norms strictly even after current restrictions in the state are relaxed.

He said people must follow COVID appropriate behaviour and stressed the need to continue masking policy, zero tolerance for violators of norms etc even after the numbers dip, as "we cannot say the worst is over".

(With PTI inputs)