'Lockdown in Mumbai if...': City Mayor Kishori Pednekar warns amid spike in COVID-19 cases

File Photo (ANI)

Mumbai: Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Tuesday said that if the daily COVID-19 cases cross the 20,000 mark, then the lockdown will be imposed in the city. 

"We will have to impose lockdown in Mumbai if daily COVID cases cross the 20,000-mark," said Pednekar.

She further said that all the schools in the city have been closed due to a spike in COVID-19 cases and students are taking online classes.

"Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has himself cancelled the programmes of Shiv Sena. This effort is going on so that the lives of our citizens should not be in danger," said Pednekar. 

She further urged people to follow all the COVID-appropriate rules. 

"People should not crowd and should follow the rules. No one wants lockdown but for that, people should follow the rules," added Mumbai Mayor. 

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday issued fresh guidelines for sealing off the buildings in Mumbai wherein the whole building or a wing shall be sealed if more than 20 per cent of the occupied number of flats in the building or wing has COVID-19 patients.

Meanwhile, Mumbai reported 8,082 COVID-19 cases on Monday, the highest daily count since April 18, 2021, taking the caseload beyond the 8-lakh mark, while two more patients succumbed to the infection.

With fresh additions, the financial capital's coronavirus tally rose to 8,07,602, while the death toll increased to 16,379.

#CoronavirusUpdates
3rd January, 6:00pm

Positive Pts. (24 hrs) - 8082
Discharged Pts. (24 hrs) - 622

Total Recovered Pts. - 7,51, 358

Overall Recovery Rate - 93%

Total Active Pts. - 37274

Doubling Rate - 138 Days
Growth Rate (27 Dec - 2 Jan)- 0.50%#NaToCorona

— माझी Mumbai, आपली BMC (@mybmc) January 3, 2022

Though the city has logged just 19 more cases as compared to Sunday, when the daily count was 8,063 and fatalities at zero, Mumbai has witnessed a nearly 10-fold rise in COVID-19 infections since last Monday, when the one-day tally was 809. 

Mumbai also reported 40 new cases of the latest coronavirus variant Omicron, pushing the number of such infections to 368 in the metropolis, according to the Maharashtra government's health department.