By Quaid Najmi

Mumbai, Apr 9 (IANS): Three years after the first cases were reported followed by a major national lockdown, the Covid-19 virus has once again reared its ugly head in its favourite haunt, Maharashtra, among other states, though there is no talk of a shutdown akin to 2020 yet.

From early March, the state experienced a gradual increase in Covid cases, ostensibly owing to seasonal fluctuations, according to top health authorities.

In the past two weeks, there has been a sharp spurt in daily infections and deaths, as per official data till April 7.

From the lowest case of one new infection on February 6, in 60 days it has gone up to a staggering 926 now, and currently there are 4,487 active cases in the state.

As in the past, Mumbai leads the state with 1,367 active cases, while Hingoli has reported zero infection among the state's 36 districts.

Thane, Pune, Nagpur, Raigad, Satara and Palghar districts are at the higher end with three-digit cases, while the rest are on the lower side with double or single digit cases.

There are also deaths due to Covid-19, but in single digit so far, and while health officials allay any apprehensions on this count, the department is on full alert.

"We have witnessed a slow but steady increase in Covid-19 cases, but hospitalisation and fatalities remain low owing to the large vaccination coverage," said health department expert Pradip Awate.

Nevertheless, the latest spike has spurred the state health authorities to girdle up and take preventive measures, on the lines of the first wave of early 2020, and an all-India mock drill has been announced for April 10-11 to check the country's Covid preparedness.

Mumbai is in full preparedness with 1,073 oxygen beds, 666 ICU beds, 393 ventilator beds, and a total of 3,422 isolation beds in the 15 hospitals of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), three state government hospitals and 35 private ones.

The city is also geared up with medicare and healthcare professionals - 6,543 - including 5,792 doctors, nurses and paramedics fully trained in Covid management.

Unlike the first three waves, the BMC is ready with a daily testing capacity of 135,035 at 34 hospitals and 49 labs, sufficient stocks of all necessary Covid medicines, essentials and resources like PPE kits, masks, nebulisers, oximeters, etc.

Learning from the experience of past blunders, the government has made massive arrangements - 798 oxygen concentrators, 2,892 tonnes oxygen cylinders, PSA plants with 16 tonnes capacity, 297 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen, and a total oxygen capacity of 3,205 tonnes for Mumbai.

It may be recalled that India went into the first lockdown on March 25, 2020, and emerged out of it in stages over the past over a year.

However, Awate feels that Covid-19 has now become an ‘endemic' similar to influenza or other viral infections, and would exhibit a spike in cases as per seasonal variations of the daily minimum-maximum temperatures.

He explained that for influenza, there are vaccines specified by the WHO every year depending on its type or severity, and they are administered annually for certain targeted sections of the population based on age or comorbidities, with effectiveness of one year.

"Since Covid-19 is still a new virus, and mutating into various strains for the past three years, no specific vaccine has been developed for regular use, but it will happen in due course," Awate said.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Maharashtra has recorded a cumulative total of 81,48,599 Covid cases and 148,457 fatalities, both highest in the country.

Mumbai and Pune districts have been the worst-hit in the state in terms of cumulative infections and deaths.

So far, Mumbai has recorded 11,57,537 cases and 19,749 deaths, compared to Pune's 15,08,156 infections and 20,610 fatalities.

Meanwhile, the WHO had indicated last month that it may soon end the Covid-19 global pandemic - declared in January 2020 - though a time-frame for that is yet to be finalised.