Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has lowered the number of tests it is conducting daily to detect Covid-19 cases in the city.
The number of fresh Covid cases and the city’s positivity rate have also subsequently dropped, data released on Tuesday shows.
PMC commissioner Vikram Kumar said, “We have not brought down the number of tests, We are testing all those required. You must see that the positivity rate has also gone down which indicates clearly that the number of new cases are going down. Also, the absolute number of deaths which was around 40 deaths daily due to Covid has now gone down to 30. Fewer new cases are coming up and so eventually the number of tests down for contacts is also coming down.”
While the positivity rate between September 19 and September 25 was an average of 27.97%, the number of tests carried out was 38,145.
The positivity rate for the week from September 29 to October 5 is 20.38%, but the number of tests carried was 34,019.
BJP MLA Siddharth Shirole took to Twitter to question the civic body for bringing down its testing. He tweeted, “Pune City has reported that 4334 Total Tests. I sincerely hope that this daily decrease in testing is due to drastic decrease in symptomatic patients & not some smokescreen to artificially reduce the number of positive cases reported daily. While citizens of #Pune maybe happy about the drastic drop in daily #COVID19 infections reported, I am deeply concerned that the drop is more to do with the decrease in number of tests being conducted and not an actual indicator of Pune flattening the curve of Covid19. By reducing the no. of tests & consequently reducing infection nos, we risk misleading #Pune into a false sense of security & normalcy. I fear that this deceptive flattening of the curve will lead to laxity in following protocols and bring about a 2nd wave of infections.”
{{/usCountry}}BJP MLA Siddharth Shirole took to Twitter to question the civic body for bringing down its testing. He tweeted, “Pune City has reported that 4334 Total Tests. I sincerely hope that this daily decrease in testing is due to drastic decrease in symptomatic patients & not some smokescreen to artificially reduce the number of positive cases reported daily. While citizens of #Pune maybe happy about the drastic drop in daily #COVID19 infections reported, I am deeply concerned that the drop is more to do with the decrease in number of tests being conducted and not an actual indicator of Pune flattening the curve of Covid19. By reducing the no. of tests & consequently reducing infection nos, we risk misleading #Pune into a false sense of security & normalcy. I fear that this deceptive flattening of the curve will lead to laxity in following protocols and bring about a 2nd wave of infections.”
{{/usCountry}}Dr Avinash Bhondwe, IMA president (Maharashtra) while reacting on dip in cases said, the reasons will be known only after seven days. “Whether it is herd immunity or reduced testing or temporary flattening of curve? We will know the exact situation only after seven days.”
The state government scheme, “My Family My responsibility”, has found a prevalence of 10% positive, in those tested based on symptoms in the city.
From September 15 to October 10, of the 18.31 lakh people screened in the city, 7,343 were referred to flu clinics, of which 872, or close to 11.87% were found to be positive.
This is part of a door-to-door survey conducted in the city.