New Covid infections in Mumbai dropped to a four-week low of 3,876 on Monday. The financial capital had reported a high of 9,925 new cases on April 14, after which strict restrictions were imposed across Maharashtra. The number of active patients on Monday also declined to 70,373 from 87,443 on April 14.

For Maharashtra, the numbers seem to be plateauing. On Monday, fresh infections dipped to 48,700 compared to 58,952 on April 14.

Immediate past president of the Indian Medical Association (Maharashtra), Avinash Bhondwe, said the Covid curve is definitely flattening in Mumbai, Pune and other areas due to the restrictions imposed by the State Government. The number of patients getting discharged from hospitals is higher than fresh infections, he said. The situation in the State is improving on availability of beds and oxygen. BMC Commissioner Iqbal Chahal said oxygen supply is adequate.

Mathew George, Professor, Centre for Public Health, Tata Institute of Social Studies, however, said that it is too early to predict when exactly we will hitting a peak in Mumbai. “Unfortunately the data that we are getting at the moment is the data emerging from the laboratory or the hospital, that is only data for patients coming to those institutions, which tells us test positivity rate, which tells amongst the people who got tested, how many people have tested positive. What we need is community level data telling us the ratio of cases reported per 1000 of the population. Poor data collection led to faulty projections in the last wave and there is a danger for it to happen presently as well.”

(With inputs from Ayushi Kar)

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