Kalyan, Dombivli report drop in Covid cases, fewer people go for testing

A dip in daily Covid cases is being seen in Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation over the last two days with less than 50 cases reported; testing has reduced from around 2,500-3,000 to 1,500-2,000 daily

A dip in daily cases is being seen in Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) over the last two days with less than 50 daily cases reported.

A woman is being tested for Covid at Rukminibai Hospital in Kalyan on Saturday. Kalyan and Dombivli have reported less than 50 positive cases daily on each of the last two days. (RISHIKESH CHOUDHARY/HT PHOTO)

Meanwhile, the testing has also reduced as less people arrive for testing and there are fewer low or high-risk contacts, claimed the health department. KDMC, however, has appealed to citizens to follow the necessary precautions during the upcoming Diwali festival.

KDMC saw the highest peak of Covid cases in April this year with around 2,500 cases and had the highest progressive cases in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), crossing the one lakh mark.

“The daily cases are below 50 now. This means fewer cases are reported. However, it is our appeal to the people to not avoid precautionary measures like maintaining social distance or wearing masks, especially when they visit crowded markets during the festival,” said Dr Pratibha Panpatil, epidemic officer, KDMC.

KDMC also claimed that the testing has reduced from around 2,500-3,000 to 1,500-2,000 daily. “The testing will naturally come down as the cases have reduced a lot. Even if we do a contact tracing of 30 people for one infected person, the positive cases reported are less. The testing will increase even if there is a slight rise in the low or high-risk contacts,” added Panpatil.

The positivity rate in KDMC has been fluctuating in the last two weeks. Sometimes, the positivity rate has crossed 3% while at other times it is under 2%. With only 31 cases recorded on October 18 and 2,077 tests conducted, the positivity rate was 1.49%, while on October 22, 49 positive cases were recorded and 1,593 tests conducted to give a positivity rate of 3.07%.

“Even if the cases have come down, KDMC should ensure the crowding at the markets and public places are under control. There is a need to take extra efforts to control it. The civic body should also emphasise on precautionary measures to avoid a surge post Diwali. At the same time, citizens should follow all the norms as a responsible citizen,” said Sreeniwas Ghanekar, founder of Alert Citizen Forum, Kalyan.