Mumbai: Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Tuesday said if the daily COVID-19 cases here cross the 20,000-mark, the city will be under lockdown as per the norms of the central government.
Speaking to reporters at his office at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters, Pednekar suggested that citizens wear triple-layer masks while traveling in public buses and local trains.
He also appealed to them to get vaccinated at the earliest and follow all the COVID-19-related Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
He said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray can address the citizens in a day or two.
Responding to a question, Pednekar said the BMC will conduct RT-PCR test of people returning from Goa on a cruise ship and if they are ready to pay for it, they will be quarantined at civic centers or hotels.
Notably, the cruise ship, where over 2,000 people on board had tested positive for coronavirus, was flown back to Mumbai from Goa late Monday night along with all passengers after some of the infected persons admitted to a medical facility there. was refused admission. A shipping agency official said.
The mayor said that BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal is keeping a close watch on the situation, and has already indicated about the lockdown in case the COVID-19 cases cross 20,000 in the city.
“Today, no one wants a lockdown and it should definitely not be enforced, because right now everyone is recovering from it. If the lockdown is implemented again, it will affect everyone badly. But, if As daily COVID-19 cases cross 20,000 mark, a lockdown will be enforced by the civic body and the state government as per the rules of the central government,” Pednekar said.
He appealed to citizens to follow COVID-19-appropriate behaviour, avoid overcrowding in markets, malls and marriage functions and wear masks properly.
The Mayor also appealed to the people to organize marriage ceremonies as per the rules and ensure that such events do not prove to be COVID-19 super-spreaders.
He said that at present, only six Omicron patients are admitted in Mumbai hospitals and all other persons infected with the new COVID-19 variant have been discharged.
To check the spread of COVID-19 cases, the Mumbai civic body is conducting RT-PCR tests and distributing masks to those who do not have it. He said that BMC is also focusing on vaccinating more and more people.
“The civic body purchased the vaccines sold by the central government to the hospitals here free of cost under the 25 per cent quota and given to the citizens without charging any charges. The doses of the vaccine are given in societies, buildings and chawls and to groups of youth, seniors. citizens and women,” the mayor said.
“If there are 20,000 houses in a ward, we have covered 15,000-16,000 of these,” she claimed.
Pednekar said the Shiv Sena canceled two programs of the party due to the rise in COVID-19 cases.
The mayor also lauded Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar for his alleged statement that he would not attend any function if more than 50 people were present.
Mumbai has been witnessing a huge jump in COVID-19 cases since last week.
The BMC had earlier said that on Monday, the country’s financial capital recorded 8,082 COVID-19 cases, the highest daily count since April 18, 2021, crossing the eight lakh mark, while two And the patients died.
40 new cases were also reported in Mumbai omicron According to the Health Department of the Government of Maharashtra, the number of such infections in the metropolis has reached 368.
With the fresh additions, the city’s coronavirus tally rose to 8,07,602, while the death toll rose to 16,379 on Monday, according to official figures.
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