Active Covid-19 cases up in Maharashtra, but hospitalization trend steady

PUNE: A “slight” rise has been recorded in the number of active Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, especially Mumbai and Pune, in the week ending December 20, which health experts largely attributed to festive and wedding gatherings.

Health authorities, however, said they were keeping a close watch on the situation and most of the cases reported were mild, not requiring hospitalization.

The active caseload in Maharashtra, which had dropped to 6,481 during the week ending December 14, increased to 7,093 at the end of the December 14-20 period.

Maharashtra disease surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate told TOI, “We have seen a slight rise in cases in the last one week, especially in Mumbai. We are continuously monitoring the situation.”

Intensivist Dr Rahul Pandit, a member of the state Covid task force, told TOI that there have been no rise in hospitalizations and most positive cases are mild. “Having said that, hospitalizations do not increase as soon as the cases start rising. Hospitalizations always lag by around two weeks after a rise in Covid cases. We need to wait for another 10-12 days to see if there has been any impact on hospitalizations. Since there has been no rise in hospital admissions for Covid, one can surmise that most of these new cases are mild and in home isolation at best,” Dr Pandit said.

He said strict adherence to air ventilation indoors, Covid-appropriate behaviour, masking and vaccination plus strategy should be the next steps to curb the spread.

Data showed that Mumbai, Pune, Satara, Raigad, Solapur and Aurangabad are some of the districts recording a rise in Covid caseload this week.

Infectious diseases consultant Vasant Nagvekar, a member of Maharashtra’s Covid-19 task force, said, “We have seen a marginal rise in Covid admissions in the last couple of weeks. Most patients go home post therapy, so the rise has only been marginal. Hence, over 95% new Covid cases coming to the hospitals are mildly symptomatic.”

He said, “The person-to-person exposure to the virus is more when people dine and talk with masks off during such gatherings. The duration of exposure during such scenarios is longer.”