BMC to raise daily testing to gauge

Mumbai: BMC has decided to conduct 35,000 to 45,000 Covid-19 tests a day to estimate the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus across the city during the second wave. It has been running since mid-February. Civic officials said there has been a drop in the number of cases and Covid checks over the past two weeks, which has resulted in a daily positive rate of less than 10 percent. They are raising it to check if the virus in the city has loosened its grip.

 

Covid-19 tested 5,24,348 individuals over the past 20 days, averaging 27,597 tests per day. In mid-April, an average of 50,000 tests was conducted daily in Mumbai, but they have now dropped to an average of 20,000-25,000 per day. BMC Additional Commissioner Suresh Kakani said there was no doubt that the number of cases had come down in the last two weeks. Covid inspection has been reduced due to strict restrictions imposed in the city.

 

We need to increase Covid testing to understand the spread of the virus in the city. Cases are declining, but we cannot assume that the second wave is over. Earlier, the ratio of tests to RT-PCR was 60:40 for rapid antigen tests, which has now been reduced to 70:30 due to restrictions, he said. About 35-40 percent of the tests performed daily are rapid antigen tests, which have a lower positivity rate than the average RT-PCR test. Dr. of Maharashtra Covid Task Force Om Srivastava said, “We cannot look at Mumbai alone.

 

Although the number of cases has decreased, there have been no in other parts of the state or the country. What happens when restrictions are lifted? To say that the second wave is declining, we have to wait until the end of September and then check the figures. Experts believe the city needs to maintain high testing numbers, even if the positivity rate is low. Another member of the task force, Dr. Rahul Pandit said, “I have always said that even though the number of cases is decreasing day by day, there should be a large-scale investigation. 

At this point, we can record a low positive rate, but until we have a positive rate below 5%, it is a good idea to try higher numbers. A large amount of contact tracing can do this within the first 24 hours. We can target areas where more cases have been reported, for example, some wards or areas in Mumbai. Gradually, we will not report cases in clusters and will see isolated positive cases. 

Although the numbers show an improvement in circumstances, we cannot slow down considering this. Dr. Pandit added.