Mumbai Mar 31 PTI Maharashtra Transport Minister Anil Parab warned on Thursday that action would be taken as per the rules against the employees of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation MSRTC who did not join duty despite the deadline of March 31 Parab who is also the chairman of the loss-making corporation told reporters here that the government had set the deadline of Thursday for ending the strike Since October 28 2021 the majority of over 90000 MSRTC employees are on strike which has paralyzed the state-run bus service for over five months causing hardship to lakhs of commuters especially in rural parts Besides pay hike the employees are demanding merger of the MSRTC with the state government As per the rules all the action that needs to be taken will be taken now It could be suspension dismissal or termination of service Parab said after a meeting of the state cabinet He had appealed to striking employees to join duty seven times he noted No action will be taken against those who have already resumed duty he clarified Those who are absent from duty do not need a jobthat is the perception So they deserve punishment the minister who is a senior Shiv Sena leader added The MSRTC has decided to hire 11000 employees on contract basis for which a tender will be issued soon Parab said He denied that the Bombay High Court has barred the corporation from taking any action against the striking employees According to Parab the corporation operated over 12000 daily services before the strike The number dwindled to 5000 after the strike began and now they have planned to increase it to at least 8000 daily services with the help of contractual staff PTI KK KRK KRK

Mumbai Feb 24 PTI Mumbai reported 119 new coronavirus cases and one pandemic-related death on Thursday the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC said in a releaseThe financial capital of the country reported fewer than 200 new infections for the fifth straight day this weekOn Wednesday Mumbai had logged 168 new COVID-19 cases and zero fatalitiesThe tally of infections rose to 1056079 and death toll reached 16691The metropolis is free of sealed buildings and containment zones for the last several daysAs many as 20846 COVID-19 tests around 4000 fewer than previous day were carried out in the city taking the tally of samples tested so far to 16111944The case positivity rate cases found per 100 samples of Mumbai is 057 per centWith 257 patients discharged or recovering at home the number of recoveries rose to 1035426 The citys rate of recovery is 98 per centThe caseload doubling period is now 4019 daysThe overall growth rate of COVID-19 cases between February 17 to 23 was 002 per centPresently Mumbai has 1088 active COVID-19 patients Around 82 per cent or 98 out of the 119 new patients were asymptomaticIn the last 24 hours only 21 patients were hospitalized and 10 of them were put on oxygen supportOnly 739 of the available 36249 hospital beds are occupied in the city PTI KK KRK KRK

Mumbai Jan 28 PTI Mumbai on Friday reported 1312 new coronavirus infections and ten fatalities the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC said in a release It took the caseload in the countrys financial capital to 1043059 and death toll to 16591 New cases declined for the tenth straight day On Thursday 1384 new COVID-19 cases and 12 deaths had been reported in Mumbai Also the Dharavi area one of the largest slum sprawls in Asia recorded zero new cases on Friday after a gap of over a month officials said The citys positivity rate however increased to 447 per cent from 332 per cent the day before Decrease in the number of tests was the reason for rise in the positivity rate BMC officials claimed Only 27720 COVID-19 tests were carried out on Friday against 42570 the previous day The tally of tests conducted so far is 15158551 With 4990 patients discharged on Friday the number of recoveries rose to 1009374 The citys rate of recovery is 97 per cent the BMC said The caseload doubling rate has improved to 259 days while the overall growth rate of cases for the period between January 21 to 27 was 027 per cent Mumbai has 14344 active COVID-19 patients now Around 84 per cent or 1089 out of 1312 new patients were asymptomatic Since previous evening 293 patients were hospitalised and 68 of them were put on oxygen support Also only 2652 of the total 37575 hospital beds reserved for coronavirus patients are occupied at present The BMC has sealed 20 buildings for high number of active patients on the premises There are no containment zone in slums and chawls now PTI KK KRK KRK

Mumbai Dec 30 PTI As many as 141 Mumbai residents who had not traveled abroad recently tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus on Thursday the civic body saidOut of 153 persons who were found to have Omicron infection in the city during the day only 12 had international travel history said the Brihanmumbai Municipal CorporationBut as per the Maharashtra governments release issued earlier in the evening out of 198 Omicron cases reported in the state a whopping 190 were from Mumbai The difference in state and BMC statistics could not be reconciledAs per the BMC update the tally of Omicron-infected Mumbai residents without history of overseas travel rose to 160 The total of Omicron cases in the city rose to 290Of 141 Mumbai residents without travel history who tested positive to Omicron the highest 21 are from the K-west ward which includes Andheri West Juhu and Versova followed by D ward that includes Malabar Hill Mahalaxmi and Tardeo areasAdditional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani told PTI that the BMC would be sending 375 more samples for genome sequencing on Friday to check if there has been community spread of the Omicron variantThe report was expected in five to six days he saidCommunity spread can be confirmed only after the report arrives Kakani addedAccording to BMC out of 141 Omicron positive persons who had no travel history 93 were fully vaccinated and three had taken one dose of coronavirus vaccineAs many as 95 of them are asymptomatic seven have moderate symptoms and 39 have mild symptomsOnly seven patients who are moderately symptomatic have been hospitalized but they are not on oxygen a late night BMC release stated PTI KK KRK KRK

Mumbai Dec 21 PTI Amid Omicron scare the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has said that prior permission is now mandatory for any program or event to be attended by 200 or more peopleAs per a circular issued on December 20 permission of the local assistant municipal commissioner will be required for such programs or functionsFurther local ward officers should send their representatives to check if rules related to COVID-19 appropriate behaviour are being followed strictly at such programs the BMC saidEarlier guidelines issued by the Maharashtra government on November 23 had said no special permission was necessary for gatherings of less than 1000 peopleBut the latest BMC circular said that if the owner hotelier or organisers claim that their venue has the capacity to accommodate more than 200 persons even after following COVID-19-related norms and ensuring 6 ft by 6 ft distance between individuals prior written permission of the assistant municipal commissioner must be obtainedFurther closed indoor halls can operate at 50 per cent of their total capacity while open-to-sky venues shall operate at only 25 per cent of total capacityViolation of these guidelines will attract action under the IPC and Disaster Management Act 2005 the circular stated PTI KK KRK KRK