New Delhi: Both Mumbai and Delhi continued to witness the worrying surge in Coronavirus cases as the cities reported 20,971, and 17,335 new coronavirus infections respectively.


With its highest one-day spike to date, Maharashtra's capital city also reported six deaths due to the virus. Meanwhile, Delhi's COVID spike was its highest single-day rise since May 8, 2021.


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Mumbai Reports Highest One-Day Spike With 20, 971 Cases


Mumbai on Friday recorded 20,971 new coronavirus infections, the highest one-day spike to date, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) stated, as reported by news agency PTI.


The financial capital also reported six deaths due to the virus, the highest in a day in the last two months, as per a BMC release.


Notably, at least 93 personnel of the Mumbai police tested positive for COVID-19 in a single day, an official said on Friday.


With the record spike, Mumbai's caseload rose to 8,74,780, while the death toll reached 16,394.


The cases went up by 790 compared to Thursday. The city had reported 20,181 new infections yesterday, which was a new record, along with four deaths.


On November 4, 2021, the metropolis had recorded six fatalities.


Mumbai municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said that a new wave of the pandemic began on December 21, 2021, when the city recorded 327 new daily cases. Since then, cases have risen 6,313.14 per cent.


He, however, maintained that there was no need for lockdown as the death rate, bed occupancy, and medical oxygen demand were low.


The rise in daily cases is 230.40 per cent since January 1, 2022, when Mumbai logged 6,347 new COVID-19 cases.


Meanwhile, out of 20,971 new cases found on Friday, 17,616 or 85 per cent were asymptomatic and only 1,395 patients were admitted to hospitals while only 88 were put on oxygen support, the BMC stated.


The BMC also highlighted that 6,531 of 35,645 hospital beds, or 18.3 per cent, are occupied in the city.


8,490 recovered patients were discharged during the day while Mumbai's active COVID-19 cases rose to 91,731 from 79,260 within 24 hours.


The cumulative total of recovered patients in Mumbai is 7,64,053, with recovery rate of 87 per cent.


During the second COVID wave, Mumbai's peak daily rise in cases was 11,163, reported on April 4, 2021, while the highest deaths (90) were logged on May 1, 2021.


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Delhi Reports 17,335 Fresh COVID Cases, Positivity Rate At 17.73% 


Delhi on Friday reported 17,335 fresh COVID cases, the highest single-day rise since May 8, 2021, along with nine deaths. With this, the positivity rate in the national capital mounted to 17.73 per cent.


This is a significant spike from Thursday when the city recorded 15,097 new cases at a positivity rate of 15.34 per cent.


On Wednesday and Tuesday, 10,665 and 5,481 cases were reported with a positivity rate of 11.88 per cent and 8.37 per cent respectively.


The fresh surge with 17,335 cases is the highest single-day rise since May 8 when 17,364 cases were reported with a positivity rate of 23.34 per cent. As many as 332 deaths were also logged that day.


The huge surge in fresh Coronavirus cases over the past several days is being recorded amid a significant jump in infections of the new Omicron variant.


According to data shared by the city health department, the death toll due to the coronavirus infection in Delhi has now risen to 25,136.


During the height of the second wave of the pandemic, Delhi witnessed the highest-ever single-day tally with 28,395 cases and 277 deaths on April 20 last year, PTI reported citing official figures.


(With Agency Inputs)