CM thinks lockdown shouldn't be imposed: Mumbai Mayor amid COVID spike

Mumbai: Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar, on Friday said that there will be no lockdown in Mumbai 'as of now' despite the rising cases of COVID-19 in Mumbai. She added that COVID-19 lockdown in Mumbai will come into force if the bed occupancy in the city reaches 20,000.

"No lockdown as of now, if bed occupancy reaches more than 20 thousand then we'll think about imposing lockdown. Depending on guidelines given by the central government, action will be taken. A final decision will be taken by CM Uddhav Thackeray," she said.

Mumbai logs over 20,000 cases of COVID-19 in just 24 hours

Pednekar also urged people to remain cautious and reassured that the civic administration is prepared even if the COVID-19/ Omicron cases in Mumbai rise. The decision comes a day after Mumbai recorded over 20,000 cases of COVID-19 within just 24 hours. Mumbai also recorded 57 of the 79 Omicron cases in Maharashtra on Thursday.

On Friday, the BMC issued fresh COVID-19 guidelines and said that patients with mild symptoms can undergo home isolation and need not take institutional quarantine. "Asymptomatic low-risk contacts of infected individuals need not undergo COVID test... Clinically assigned mild cases are patients with upper respiratory tract symptoms with or without fever, without shortness of breath and having oxygen saturation at room air of more than 93 per cent," the fresh guidelines said.

Amid rising cases of Omicron and COVID-19 in Mumbai, the BMC also reduced the minimum period of home isolation to seven days from the earlier 14 days. The civic body has also said that buildings/ wards which have more than 20 per cent of occupants tested positive for COVID-19, will be sealed.