3,671 New Covid Cases In Mumbai Today, 46% Higher Than Yesterday

MUMBAI: Mumbai saw a massive surge in fresh coronavirus cases yet again today with 3,671 infections – 46% higher compared to yesterday – amid concerns over Omicron, the new variant which has been labeled as “highly infectious” by experts and has sparked worry over a third wave in the country.

India’s financial capital has seen a five-fold increase over the last week in the daily surge in Covid cases – the city logged 683 infections last Friday.

Fearing a fresh coronavirus wave, the city’s civic body – the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation – has reactivated its ward-level war rooms to tackle the increasing number of cases.

These war rooms are set up in all 24 wards to manage hospital admissions, oxygen and medicine requirements and vaccination as well.

The war rooms – that follow the “test, trace and treat” strategy – also keep a track of patients isolated at their homes.

While cases have been rising, the Mumbai civic body has said, more than 90 per cent of the cases are asymptomatic.

This afternoon, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray met the state’s Covid task force. One of the key discussions at the high-level meeting was on the new variant that is believed to be driving up the infections in the state, which has the highest overall cases in the country (66,65,386).

In Mumbai, despite a ban on large gatherings ahead of the New Year’s celebrations, the streets are still witnessing huge crowds.

Across India, so far 961 Omicron cases have been logged so far, the government said today, stressing the country is prepared to tackle the spike and there is “no need to panic”.

Delhi, Gurgaon, Kolkata, and Bengaluru are among the other big cities that have witnessed an uptick in infections over the last week.