Mumbai, Feb 16 (IANS): After 44 days, Mumbai recorded zero Covid-19 deaths even as the Maharashtra's Omicron infections suddenly rocketed, health officials said on Tuesday.

Brihan Mumbai Municipal Commissioner I.S. Chahal announced that the country's commercial capital recorded zero deaths for the first time since January 2, and the civic body was "proceeding in the right direction" in controlling the coronavirus pandemic.

Simultaneously, the city was unshackled from the containment zone or sealed tags in any buildings or localities, said the civic chief.

After recording the first Covid-19 cases in March 2020, the city recorded nil fatalities on October 17, 2021 for the first time ever, in wake of the second wave of the pandemic.

December was better with zero deaths notched 7 times even as the third wave set in and now the pandemic curve is apparently waning.

The state position worsened with 2,831 new infections on Tuesday - compared with 1,966 a day before, while the number of deaths almost tripled from 12 to 35.

The worrisome factor was a sudden spurt in Omicron infections - from 8 on Monday to 351 - sounding fresh alarm bells - though none reported from Mumbai.

The state has reported 4,345 Omicron cases since December 1, while 3,334 have been fully cured and sent home, while 8,904 positive samples have been sent for genome sequencing. The results of 1,046 are awaited.

Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the state has recorded a whopping 78,47,746 cases and a total of 143,451 fatalities.