“We have 7,000 beds in private hospitals and, if required, we will increase the bed count. In fact, 12,000 beds will be added soon. Currently, 50 per cent beds are occupied in private hospitals. Close to 30 per cent beds are occupied in government and BMC-run hospitals,” he added.

Hospitalisation, Dr Bhansali said, is not a problem as “most patients (in the current wave) are asymptomatic and recover in 2 to 3 days.”

“Even if Mumbai sees 40,000 cases, we are prepared,” he said, adding, “The number of cases is rising. On Wednesday Mumbai saw 15,000 cases and today it’s 20,000. This was expected.”

On Wednesday, Maharashtra reported 26,538 fresh COVID-19 cases and eight deaths. Of the new cases, Mumbai reported the highest number of infections at 15,166. As per the health bulletin, 67,576,032 cases have been reported in Maharashtra so far including 87,505 active cases.

A total of 144 cases of Omicron were reported in Maharashtra in the last 24 hours. Of these, Mumbai tops the chart with 100 cases, followed by Nagpur with 14 cases, Thane and Pune with seven cases each, Pimpri-Chinchwad with six cases and Kolhapur with five cases.

(With inputs from agencies)