Mumbai’s COVID-19 infection growth and doubling rate is again on the rise and senior BMC officials have attributed it to the movement of people across the state and leniency in observance of safety protocols by citizens.

While some doctors are fearing this spike may be a second wave, civic health officials have maintained that it is too early to confirm it.

According to the daily count data shared by the Mumbai civic body, the positivity rate has increased to 4 per cent, from 3.2 per cent last week. The average daily positivity rate had dropped to below 3 per cent in January.

However, in the last seven days, it has again surged to 4.22 per cent. Relaxation of the lockdown, violation of physical distancing and other norms, and local trains for all are the contributing factors.

Another indicator of surging cases in the city is the overall case doubling rate and the weekly growth rate of infection.

While Mumbai has conducted over 30.39 lakh cumulative Covid-19 tests till now, the doubling rate has now declined, from 564 days on February 1 to 445 on February 16, 2021. Meanwhile, the daily growth rate increased to 0.16 per cent on Tuesday, February 16 from 0.12 per cent on February 1

In a positive, there is not much change in the number of fatalities, with the numbers having come down marginally in the past two-three months. The daily death count has remained below 5 for the past month.

Mumbai has been a Covid hotspot ever since the pandemic hit the country. However, cases had started declining significantly by the end of June.