Need to take precaution: Maharashtra minister says as Covid cases rise in Mumbai

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said on Wednesday that Covid cases have been increasing in Mumbai, Pune and Thane. Addressing a press conference, he said, "There are 3,475 cases (in Mumbai, Pune and Thane) of which 2,500 cases are from Mumbai alone."

Tope said people need to take precautions and avoid leaving homes unless necessary. "Use of masks will be made mandatory," the minister said during the press conference.

The minister's warnings come a day after data from the state health department showed that Mumbai saw a 200% increase in Covid cases in May compared to cases in April.

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The city also saw a 133% increase in the first half of May compared to the second half.

On Wednesday, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal instructed civic officials to ramp up testing for Covid on a war footing and keep the staff of jumbo field hospitals on alert in wake of a tremendous rise in new cases over the past few weeks.

"The new cases (reported) daily have tremendously gone up in Mumbai, and with monsoon around the corner, we will now see a rapid rise in symptomatic cases," Chahal told BMC officials on Wednesday, PTI reported.

On Tuesday, Mumbai recorded 506 new Covid cases, the highest single-day spike since February 6, which pushed the caseload to 10.64 lakh. No fresh deaths were seen and the toll remained unchanged at 19,566.

In Thane, daily cases have seen a spike since May 24 and 96 people tested positive for Covid on Tuesday. In Pune, cases of Omicron's sub-variants B.A. 4, and B.A. 5, reported for the first time in Maharashtra, have led to an environment of caution among the district's public.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra recorded 711 new Covid cases on Tuesday, the highest daily count in over three months. The state reported only one fresh death. In total, the state has recorded over 78.8 lakh cases and over 1.47 lakh deaths since the onset of the pandemic.

Last week, health minister Tope had said that residents of districts that were reporting an increase in daily cases should start taking extra care, including masking themselves.