Latest surge includes first fatality after 17 days in city

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said as per suggestions made by experts it is likely that Covid cases will increase further in the next few days. The state had done away with Covid-related curbs, including compulsory wearing of masks in April.

- Sumitra Deb Roy & Bhavika Jain

Mumbai: The latest surge includes a fatality in Mumbai after 17 days of zero deaths. The sole death recorded in Mumbai and the state was of a woman below age 40.

Health secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas said active cases in the state has gone up seven times in the last 1.5 months. There were 626 active cases on 16 April and the figure touched 4,500 on Thursday. An analysis shows that 97% of new cases are being reported from Mumbai and surrounding urban centres like Thane, Navi Mumbai and Pune. The largest share is from Mumbai where the positivity rate is 6%, double the state's average.

Active cases in the state (4,559), as well as the city (3,324), have jumped by 13% overnight, prompting experts surveilto call for heightened lance and increased genome sequencing to track variants.