45 Lakh in 45 Days: As Mumbai Breaches 3,000 Mark, BMC Sets Ambitious Vaccination Target
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A day after Mumbai reported its highest-ever single-day tally of Covid-19 cases, the BMC has set in motion a plan to vaccinate at least one lakh people daily.
The civic body has set a target of vaccinating 45 lakh citizens in as many days. It has also asked private hospitals to target 1,000 vaccinations daily.
Mumbai on Friday crossed the 3,000 mark with 3,062 new cases in 24 hours and 10 deaths.
Testing will also be increased. The BMC aims to double testing from 25,000 people daily to almost 50,000 in a bid to detect cases early.
About Dharavi, Asia’s biggest slum which has been reporting a steady rise in Covid-19 cases since last month, the BMC said that the spike can be attributed to ramped up testing and increased screening.
Additional private hospitals have been roped in for the inoculation drive. From 59 earlier, 80 private hospitals have been enabled to administer vaccines.
On Friday, Dharavi reported 29 fresh cases which is significantly higher than its previous figures that remained below 20 for months.
To address anxiety among citizens regarding the vaccines, the BMC also asserted on Friday that both Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin are equally effective and the beneficiaries do not get to chose between them. The municipal body further appealed to the people to follow the COVID-19 norms as the state witnesses alarming levels of infections. Maharashtra witnessed the highest one-day spike of 25,833 COVID-19 cases on Thursday.
Mumbai on Thursday recorded its highest-ever one-day spike of 2,877 new coronavirus cases which took the tally of cases in the city to 3,52,835, civic officials said. With eight fatalities, the death toll due to the pandemic in the country’s financial capital increased to 11,555.
On October 7, Mumbai had reported 2,848 new COVID-19 cases, the highest since the first infection in the city came to light. Also, this is the third time when single-day cases have surpassed the 2,800-mark.
As many as 23,402 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of tests to 36,37,790. With an increase in COVID-19 cases since the start of the month, the patient recovery rate in Mumbai has gone down to 91 per cent from 93 per cent.
The average growth rate of COVID-19 cases in the city has increased to 0.51 per cent from 0.17 per cent on February 18, while the average doubling rate of cases has gone down to 136 days from 417 days. The city has 34 containment zones in slums and chawls, while 267 buildings have been sealed after coronavirus patients were found there.
Since the first case — a Dubai-returned person — was found in the city on March 11, 2020, cases gradually went up, before reaching a peak in September-October and then steadily went down till February.
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