MUMBAI: Daily Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra and Mumbai rose by 46% and 17%, respectively, on Tuesday as compared to Monday, but the week-on-week data showed a sharp drop. Experts said the drop in weekly caseload possibly indicates that the present surge is declining.
The state registered five deaths on Tuesday, including two in Mumbai. The capital city had recorded five deaths on Sunday as well as Monday.
As per the state Covid update, Maharashtra registered 2,369 cases on Monday, which is usually the weekday with the lowest count, but the tally rose to 3,482 on Tuesday. Mumbai's Covid tally rose from 1,062 to 1,290 in the same period.
However, the weekly cabinet report released on Tuesday showed that the week-on-week increase had dropped from 36.47% last week to 5.03% on Tuesday. Mumbai saw the largest drop in weekly tallies. While the city registered 14,089 cases between June 14 and 20, the caseload was 12,479 between June 21 and 28. "This is a -11.43% drop in case," said a senior state official.
In neighbouring Thane district, weekly growth rate had dropped to 2.64% from 57.33% the previous week. "I believe the present spike or surge has plateaued out and is on a decline," said Dr Gautam Bhansali, a member of the state government's Covid-19 task force.
Meanwhile, the weekly test positivity rate in Mumbai and Thane, too, dropped compared to last week. While the rate dropped from 20% to 16.37% in Mumbai, Pune is witnessing a rise with 22.86% rate this week. The weekly test positivity rate for Maharashtra is 12.22%, with only Mumbai, Thane and Pune having a higher rate. Seven more patients of BA.5 and two more of BA.4 have been identified in the state, taking the tally of the new Omicron variants to 63. While four are from Palghar, three are from Raigad and two from Thane.
