Mumbai: Mumbai has been witnessing declining cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) over the past few weeks, and even though the second wave of the pandemic has ebbed, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced that the city will continue to remain under level three of the coronavirus-necessitated lockdown in view of the heavy rainfall, population density, and transport issues. The BMC issued fresh orders on Friday saying the Covid-19 restrictions will not be eased further, for the time being, reported news agency ANI. Notably, the number of Covid-19 cases in Mumbai has drastically reduced since last month, with the weekly positivity rate being 4.4% and oxygen bed occupancy 27.12%. Civic-run hospitals in the city are given converting unused Covid-19 beds to treat non-Covid patients, as doctors put their focus back on other ailments. Government and private laboratories in Mumbai are also seeing a sharp drop in demand for RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests in May compared to April, as health officials attribute the Covid-19 lockdown and the resultant restricted movements as one of the primary reasons behind the fall in cases.

Announcing the orders to not lift Covid-19 restrictions in Mumbai, the BMC said that the decision was taken keeping in mind the city's geographical structures, the density of population, heavy rainfall prediction, and the number of people coming through local trains. Currently, Mumbai is under level 2 of Covid-19 classification, owing to the reduced number of cases, but BMC has decided that the city will continue to remain under level 3 of Unlock norms under 'Break the chain'. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government had earlier allowed all local authorities to take their call on easing coronavirus-related restrictions in their respective areas, after announcing the five-step unlock plan dividing the districts into levels based on weekly positivity rate and oxygen bed occupancies.