Mumbai sees 772 new COVID-19 cases and 27 deaths; city's case tally stands at 12689

Amid the mega-rejig in the city's civic body - BMC, Mumbai reported 772 new cases and 27 deaths on Saturday. The city witnessed 203 patients who were discharged and the tally reached at 2792. The city's COVID-19 tally currently stands at 12689 cases and 489 deaths.

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Mumbai: 772 new cases

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BMC's new commissioner

As the city's COVID-19 tally soars, BMC, on Friday,  transferred its Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi as the Additional Chief Secretary in the Urban Development Department.  Iqbal Chahal, the current Principal Secretary, Urban Development Department was appointed as the new BMC Commissioner. Meanwhile, former Thane Municipal Corporation Commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal took over as the Additional BMC Commissioner replacing Abasaheb Jarhad. While the BMC or Maharashtra government has not specified any reason for this rejig, the BJP has alleged that the Maharashtra government was simply trying to find a scapegoat.

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Mumbai under containment

The BMC has set up 2646 containment zones throughout Mumbai, even though 321 zones were opened up as they had not reported any new case for past 14 days. With over 1 million people living in five square kilometer area, Dharavi is Mumbai's most densely populated area and has been under severe scrutiny - recording 883 cases with 27 deaths. BMC is also going to distribute anti-malarial Hydroxychloroqune tablets among Dharavi residents.

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Moreover, the BMC has announced that existing isolation bed capacity will soon be increased from 3000 to 4750. With the rise in cases, the government has not lifted the lockdown in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region after May 3 and CM Thackeray has reiterated that trains will not resume operations and that the Army will not be deployed in Mumbai. Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope has expressed confidence that Mumbai will see a sharp decline in COVID-19 cases in the next 15 to 20 days, while the Union Health Ministry Lav Agarwal has visited the city to discuss the situation.