1,333 cases in a day: 'Rising Covid infections hint at possible 3rd wave in Mumbai'

Maharashtra on Tuesday reported the highest number of Covid-19 infections in 75 days with 2,172 cases, with Mumbai largely driving the surge. The city saw its highest daily detection in seven months at 1,333 cases.

Despite the sudden increase in Covid-19 cases, there have been a low number of fatalities at 22 in Maharashtra and one in Mumbai. Furthermore, the state did not detect any new Omicron infections, keeping the tally of the new variant at 167.

The exponential rise in cases pushed Mumbai's daily positivity rate to 4%, which is a seven-fold increase from December 1. The last time the city saw such high rates were during May when the second wave started to recede.


Maharashtra's Covid-19 tally has reached 66,61,486 with the addition of 2,172 cases on Tuesday. Around 61% of these came from Mumbai, which has been observing a rise for nearly a week now.

Mumbai's cumulative tally has reached 7,73,031.

Around 1,300 cases were reported in the first week of December in Mumbai, rising to almost 1,500 in the second week and roughly 1,900 in the third week.

However, between December 22 and 28, newly detected cases touched 5,478, which is a 320% jump from the first week.

Health minister Rajesh Tope said the state is vigilant about the Omicron surge.

"The doubling rate of the variant is very high, and it has been forecast that the cases may rise significantly in January and February," Tope said.

"(There's a) possible third wave in Mumbai as the numbers are clearly suggesting a rising trend. But all are mild cases and no major strain on healthcare as of now. It's important to be vigilant and cautious," said Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the state Covid task force, reports TOI.

"Cases in the state have tripled in just one week. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray may hold a meeting of the state taskforce on Wednesday to decide the future course of action," said an official, reports TOI.

With New Year festivities around the corner, the government may bring in more measures to tackle crowding in public spaces

(With inputs from TOI)