Mumbai's daily COVID cases fall below 1000 in 2 months; city's tally soars to 2,52,087

Marking a first in over two months, Mumbai's daily Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases fell below 1000 on Monday. The financial city recorded 804 new cases and 37 new cases in 24 hours. With 1293 new recoveries, the cured tally rose to 2,21,458. Mumbai is now the first city to pass 10,000 deaths with 2,52,087 cases of which 19,035 cases are active and 10,099 deaths.

Mumbai crosses grim milestone of 10,000 COVID deaths; city's tally passes 2.5 lakhs

Mumbai: 804 new COVID cases

Mumbai's recovery rate has risen to 88% now while its growth rise has slowed to 0.53%. BMC reported that 14,56,838 samples have been tested till date with a 17.25% positivity rate. With the increasing number of cases, BMC reported that 199 out of 1177 ventilator beds are vacant, while 445 out of 2035 ICU beds are vacant.

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Ajit Pawar tests COVID positive

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra  Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is admitted in a hospital on the advice of doctors. "I have tested positive for COVID-19. My health condition is fine. As a precautionary measure I have admitted self to Breach Candy Hospital on the advice of doctors," the NCP leader said. On Thursday, Pawar tested negative for coronavirus but was under home quarantine as a precautionary measure.

In the last few months, over a dozen Maharashtra ministers have tested positive for the viral infection. They include Jitendra Awhad (housing), Ashok Chavan (public works department), Dhananjay Munde (social justice), Varsha Gaikwad (school education), Eknath Shinde (urban development) and Nitin Raut (energy). Ministers Hasan Mushrif (rural development), Sunil Kedar (animal husbandry), Balasaheb Patil (cooperation), Aslam Shaikh (ports, textile), Bacchu Kadu (MoS for school education), Abdul Sattar (MoS-rural development), Sanjay Bansode (MoS-environment) and Vishwajeet Kadam (MoS for cooperation) had also contracted COVID-19.

Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar tests positive for Covid-19

Mumbai's COVID crisis

With Maharashtra extending its lockdown, the BMC has increased its containment zones to 622, while over 8400 buildings and chawls have been sealed and are being self-managed by the society. BMC has tweaked its containment zones criteria mandating sealing of buildings that have 10 or more cases in 2 or more floors. The recent BMC report shows Borivali as the most affected place with the doubling rate at 97 days, while Dadar is the least affected ward with a doubling rate at 256 days. Overall, Mumbai's doubling rate at 132 days is higher than the national average of 73 days.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates: India's tally at 79 lakhs; active cases drop to 6.53 lakhs