Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) mayor Kishori Pednekar on Tuesday said that a lockdown may have to be imposed in Mumbai in view of the rise in Covid-19 cases “if people don’t follow rules”, news agency ANI reported.

On Monday, Mumbai registered a total of 3,365 fresh Covid-19 cases, overtaking Kerala. Maharashtra emerged at the top spot in the country again after 42 days of slump in the number of cases.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar had on Sunday said in Aurangabad, “We will have to take strict action after talking to the chief minister if cases continue to rise.”

Meanwhile, additional municipal commissioner in-charge of the BMC’s public health department Suresh Kakani was quoted as saying by India Today that the state had decided to keep its jumbo Covid-19 centres open till March 31.

Kakani echoed Pawar and said that new restrictions may not be imposed again in Mumbai if people continued to cooperate with the authorities. “If people cooperate with us then there would not be any need for fresh lockdown or restrictions. This is what I would say. But we have said from Day 1 that if the numbers rise with the resumption of local trains we will have to put in strict measures as well,” he was quoted as saying.

This was the highest number of cases detected in Maharashtra on a Monday since November 30. The state also reported 23 deaths. Its total caseload is now 20,67,643 and the toll 51,552. For the last six days in a row, the state has reported over 3,000 daily cases.