Mumbai records 15,166 new COVID-19 cases, highest single-day spike since pandemic started; three deaths

Mumbai: Mumbai reported 15,166 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, its highest-ever daily count so far, and three deaths, civic officials said. But almost 87 percent of new patients were asymptomatic, they added. The daily cases rose by 4,306 from a day ago. The city’s overall coronavirus infection count jumped to 8,33,628, while the toll increased to 16,384, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a bulletin. At 15,166, the country’s financial capital recorded its all-time high daily rise in the cases since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020. On Tuesday, the city had logged 10,860 cases and two deaths. So the latest infection count reflected a jump of 4,306 cases, or 39.65 percent. Earlier, Mumbai had logged the highest-ever 11,163 COVID-19 cases on 4 April, 2021, during the second wave. For the second day in a row, the metropolis reported COVID-19 cases in five digits. Notably, compared to Tuesday, there was only one additional death on account of the pandemic in the city. Further, out of 15,166 new cases, 13,195 or 87 percent are asymptomatic and only 1,218 patients have been admitted to hospital. Of them, only 80 are on oxygen support, the BMC said. Also, 5,104 of 35,487 or less than 15 percent of hospital beds in the city are occupied, officials said. The overall growth rate of COVID-19 cases rose to 0.78 percent for the period between 29 December, 2021 to 4 January, 2022, while the caseload doubling rate slipped to 78 days. As many as 60,014 COVID-19 tests, the highest to date, were conducted in Mumbai, taking the cumulative number of tests conducted to 1,39,24,608, BMC officials said. Though 714 recovered patients were discharged from hospitals, Mumbai’s active COVID-19 cases rose to 61,923 from 47,476 within 24 hours. The tally of recovered patients in Mumbai stood at 7,52,726, while the city has a recovery rate of 90 percent. The number of sealed buildings increased to 462, while the number of containment zones in slums and chawls is 20.