As COVID-19 cases go down across the state, Panvel has emerged as an outlier. The area under Panvel Municipal Corporation is recording a surge in infections, with active cases doubling in the past 8 days.

Until recently, Panvel had been reporting less than 20 cases a day, which has now shot up beyond 60 in the new year. While civic officials term the situation a "slight increase", local leaders say PMC is not conducting enough tests and restrictions have gone for a toss.