Maharashtra records 2,701 COVID-19 cases, no death

Mumbai, Jun 08: Maharashtra on Wednesday logged 2,701 new coronavirus cases, and highest since February 18, the state health department said. State capital Mumbai alone accounted for 1,765 new cases.

On Tuesday, Mumbai reported 1,242 new coronavirus infections. This is the first time since February 2 that Mumbai has reported cases in four digits for two consecutive days.

No new pandemic-related death was reported during the day.

A "tremendous" rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai is driving a surge in new infections in Maharashtra over the last few days.

"The new cases (reported) daily have gone up tremendously in Mumbai, and with monsoon round the corner, we will now see a rapid rise in symptomatic cases," Mumbai municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal had told last week.

Health experts are stressing that pandemic norms like wearing of masks and social distancing, which were rolled back to "voluntary mode" on April 2 this year amid a fall in cases, will have to be observed diligently again.

The rise in cases could be due to multiple reasons. Vaccination coverage has slowed down, and is poor in the under-18 and booster dose segments. Moreover, the virus undergoes mutations to form new variants that are either more transmissible, or the immunity acquired by vaccination does not fully protect against them.