Mumbai: With a new XBB subvariant of Covid detected in the state, authorities expect a rise in the number of cases during the winter months. Civic health officials say that they are closely monitoring influenza-like illnesses cases in Mumbai. Experts advise to follow covid appropriate behaviour as other viruses are in circulation as well.
Dr Pradeep Awate, the state surveillance officer said that the increase in number of people contracting Covid in the state has not been significant, with the exception of Mumbai and Thane where a slight increase has been observed. “Like all new variants of the Omicron, the transmission rate of the virus will increase for a short while. However, it would not be very virulent,” he said.
With the crowds expected in the markets before Diwali and later during the celebration of the festival, Dr Awate warns against putting your guard down. He also advised people to take precautionary steps like observing Covid appropriate behaviour in public and getting vaccinated in accordance with the government guidelines. Special care needs to be taken by people with comorbidities, those with a weakened immune system and those suffering from flu-like illnesses, especially when in public, he added.
Dr Rahul Pandit, who is a part of the Covid task force, said that cyclical rise and fall in the number of infections is going to be a part of our lives for some time. “Unless an entirely new variant comes up, the infectivity and virulence of the Omicron variant will remain low. While we should not restrict any of our day-to-day activities, we should start wearing masks in crowded areas again, especially if you have a family member who is unwell or has low immunity,” he said. We need to learn to live with the virus, he added.
A health official from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the civic body will continue to screen the patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) for Covid-19, with the focus being on testing, tracing and treatment. “All hospitals have been told to collect samples of suspected patients. The samples of all those who test positive are being sent for genome sequencing,” said the official.
Since the last three day, more than 150 new cases of Covid have been registered by the BMC. On an average, 10 people have required hospitalisation every day in the last five days. Only 1.65% of the available beds are occupied currently. On Friday, 477 new cases were detected in the state, of which 178 were in Mumbai. The recovery rate in the city has now touched 98.2%.