Amid Covid surge, Uddhav open to complete lockdown in Mumbai: Minister

'CM has instructed all administration officers to take a decision on whatever is necessary; be it imposing a partial lockdown, increasing testing, or go for a complete lockdown,' says Aslam Shaikh

With coronavirus cases rising in Maharashtra's capital Mumbai, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has instructed all officials to keep options open, said Aslam Shaikh, Guardian Minister for Mumbai, on Tuesday. 

"In Mumbai, cases are a bit higher. The Chief Minister has instructed all administration officers to take a decision on whatever is necessary; be it imposing a partial lockdown, increasing testing, or go for a complete lockdown," said Shaikh.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai increased by over 1,000 for the sixth consecutive day on Monday, taking its tally to 3,34,572, an official said.

Monday's addition of 1,008 cases was, however, a dip from the 1,100 plus figures notched up on the preceding five days, including 1,300 on Sunday.

Four deaths took the toll to 11,504 while 956 people getting discharged during the day took the recovery count in the metropolis to 3,11,407, he added.

The average daily growth rate of COVID-19 cases in the city has increased to 0.31 per cent from 0.17 per cent on February 18, while the case doubling time shortened from 417 days to 225 days now, BMC data showed.

With 17,849 samples being examined on Monday, the overall number of tests in Mumbai went up to 34,34,610.