MUMBAI : February drew to a close with the city’s daily Covid tally of 73 on Monday not only being one of the lowest in the last 23 months of the pandemic, but the month’s total caseload of 9,882 staying well short of the psychological milestone of 10,000 cases.
Compared to the January caseload of 2. 6 lakh, the city registered a sharp 96. 2% drop in the monthly tally, according to state Covid data released on Monday. In perspective, Mumbai recorded 2,93,436 Covid cases and 11,115 deaths in 2020. The next year, cases zoomed to 4,77,558 but deaths more than halved to 5,232.
On Monday, when both the state and the city have repeatedly recorded the lowest tallies due to fewer tests conducted on Sunday, Maharashtra only had 407 cases -the lowest single-day total since April 18, 2020, when the state had reported 328 cases. The month-on-month comparison for Maharashtra showed an 86% drop from 10. 4 lakh cases in January to 1. 4 lakh cases in February.
The state recorded four deaths (two each in Pune and Latur), taking the streak of fatalities in single digits to three days. Mumbai registered zero deaths for the fourth consecutive day.
“The Covid pandemic has reached a point that it will no longer disrupt day-to-day life here,” said Dr Rahul Pandit, a member of the state government’s Covid task force. “We, however, need to stay vigilant and keep up surveillance, maintain some isolation facilities and, most important, continue with the booster vaccination drive for the entire population till the year-end. ”
In most hospitals in the city, the Covid wards are empty. On Monday, the BMC began dismantling 4 jumbo hospitals (Mulund, Kanjurmarg, Goregaon and Dahisar).
BMC’s Covid update on Monday showed only seven patients were admitted to hospitals. Dr Pandit, who is the head of ICU in Fortis Hospital, Mulund, said only three patients, all over 60 years, are still admitted to his ICU. “They have been here for over a week, and there are no fresh admissions,’’ he added.
Active cases in the state continue to drop further. A total of 6,663 cases were still under treatment in the state, of which 815 are in Mumbai. “Daily detections and fatalities are dropping. Even the rate of hospitalisation continues to drop. The state is all set for more (Covid curbs) relaxations,” said a state official.
