High-risk contacts with symptoms to be tested on priority, says BMC

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to prioritise testing of symptomatic high-risk contacts of coronavirus positive patients and give second

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to prioritise testing of symptomatic high-risk contacts of coronavirus positive patients and give second priority to asymptomatic high-risk contacts to ensure early detection of those who need critical care. The decision was taken even though BMC data for Mumbai shows that more than 70% patients do not have symptoms.

HT Image

Until now, the BMC was testing all high-risk contacts, irrespective of symptoms, however, municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi, in a meeting with ward officers recently, asked them to prioritise symptomatic high-risk patients.

However, all high-risk and low-risk contacts will be quarantined institutionally or at home, irrespective of symptoms. Those having symptoms have a problem in breathing, cough and fever, while a majority of them don’t show any symptom owing to their immunity.

The BMC officials said this is in line with the Central government’s guidelines for testing, considering symptomatic high-risk contacts are more prone to transmission and require more attention than asymptomatic contacts.

More than 10,000 high-risk and low-risk contacts have been placed under quarantine, and 4,000 have completed their 14-day quarantine period. A BMC official said, “We are not saying we will not test asymptomatic positive patients, but we are going to prioritise those who have symptoms. This will help us get quicker test reports of those who are symptomatic and if found positive, they can get timely medical care.’’

Sandhya Nandekar, assistant municipal commissioner, R North ward, which covers Dahisar and part of Borivli, said, “We will look at it on a case-to-case basis. If required, test can always be done. Also, we are quarantining all high-risk and low-risk contacts.”

Currently, the BMC has been collecting 4,000 swabs at government and private labs daily and getting results for 2,000-2,300 tests a day. It aims to increase the testing capacity to 5,000 in the coming days.

A BMC official said, “At times, it takes two days for results to come, considering the backlog. By prioritising symptomatic tests for high-risk contacts, we are just streamlining the process.”