India’s Health Ministry reported 3,712 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours on Thursday, the highest in nearly a month, driven up by a record number of cases recorded in the financial capital Mumbai.
The city reported 739 cases on Wednesday night, more than double the number it had recorded just two days earlier, 318.
“Trend graph of Mumbai shows a silent wave, mild omicron variants. Protect vulnerables, keep close watch on hospitalization,” Shashank Joshi, a member of the state government task force on COVID-19 said on Twitter late on Wednesday.
Hospitalizations in Mumbai were low, and 96% of the cases reported on Wednesday were asymptomatic, the city’s civic body said in its daily COVID-19 report.
“There is no rise in hospitalizations. People are quarantining themselves at home and recovering at home. There is no need to worry,” state health minister Rajesh Tope told reporters on Wednesday.
Mumbai was one of the first cities to be affected by India’s devastating second wave of the pandemic in 2021 but was lauded for its efficient tackling of the crisis.
India has recorded more than 43 million cases and 524,641 deaths since the pandemic began.