Mumbai: The city which was one of India's epicentre for the spread of novel coronavirus, was able to control the infection by the end of 2020. However, the case suddenly started rising by the mid of February and now the graph of contagion is showing upward trend. Thus, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is considering enforcing a 'partial lockdown' in Mumbai.

Aslam Shaikh, the Guardian Minister for Mumbai, talking to The Times of India said that a partial lockdown may be imposed if the cases are not brought under control in next eight to ten days.

He also hinted that the state government can also increase ‘institutional quarantine’ to contain the further spread of infection in Mumbai, adding that more steps need to be taken break the chain of the COVID-19. Shaikh also stated that the government will first try to contain the spread by imposing measures such as fines for not wearing a mask or crowding. “Finally a partial lockdown could be imposed if cases continue to increase,” said Shaikh.

Some weeks back, Mumbai’s daily count was below 500. The officials of BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) stated the highest number of COVID-19 cases are reported from high-rise buildings.

On the other side, Mumbai’s neighbouring district, Thane, declared lockdown from March 13 to 31 in 11 hotspots in the amid the rise in the spread of the infection. As on Monday, the caseload of Thane district was 2,69,845, including 6,302 fatalities.

Meanwhile, after reporting over 10,000 new COVID-19 cases for the last three days, Maharashtra on Monday reported a slight decrease with 8,744 new cases.