Mumbai has seen an exponential rise in the number of fresh Covid cases in recent days as the third wave of the pandemic has gripped the city. Though curbs have been tightened and restrictions on certain businesses added, the financial capital has not seen a complete lockdown. Speaking to CNN-News18 on Wednesday, hours before the cabinet meeting on the Covid situation, Mumbai’s Guardian Minister Aslam Shaikh said the city has imposed its own norms for asymptomatic patients and is not following the ICMR guidelines as it’s not suitable for the metropolis that sees heavy crowding at certain locations.
According to the ICMR guidelines, an asymptomatic patient should follow a 7-day quarantine and there is no need to get tested once the period ends. However, Shaikh said, “Looking at Mumbai’s scenario like crowds, locals, etc, we are following our own guidelines so that we rule out any chances of spreading the infection. So, if you are asymptomatic, quarantine is a must. After that only if you get a negative RT PCR result can you step out.”
After reporting over 20,000 new Covid cases on January 6, Mumbai’s caseload came down to under 12,000 on January 11. According to Shaikh, it is too early to predict if the city has crossed its peak. “You cannot justify in one or two days of cases going up and say there is a problem or cases going down then say things are settled. It’s a wait-and-watch situation. People followed the norms and stayed indoors over the weekend. But today people have stepped out so let’s not be in a hurry to jump to conclusions. If cases rise, we will come up with the necessary guidelines. It’s not suitable to say at this point that the peak is over.”
While the Mumbai model has won praises in various parts of the world during previous Covid waves, some experts say the city’s municipal body is missing a crucial piece of the puzzle in the testing department, with much of the data coming from antigen test kits available off the shelf not being included in the system. This gives an inaccurate picture of the city’s Covid tally, they argue. But measures are in place to rectify this problem, said Shaikh.
“People have started doing the antigen test at home, and records are not getting in the system. So we have issued orders to pharmacists to take details of those buying kits and ask people to upload test results on the portal, else action will be taken. We will not allow them to come out of home isolation if they are not negative. They will be given medical attention if required,” he said.
Mumbai is already seeing a too-good-to-be-true situation with the Omicron-led third wave, some analysts say. But authorities insist on not letting the guard down and masking up, as this could be just the lull before another storm. The city, meanwhile, has achieved a milestone by vaccinating 90 per cent of its population with two doses and is working towards getting the entire eligible population inoculated at the earliest.
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