For the past few days, both the state and the city were steadily reporting fewer than 2,000 and 400 fresh COVID-19 cases, respectively. However, on Wednesday, Mumbai’s daily figure jumped past 500 and Maharashtra’s new infections rose to nearly 3,000. Though the daily record of death toll remained steady at 30 across the state.

A civic healthcare worker collects a swab sample from a passenger who arrived from Gujarat, at Dadar station on Wednesday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi