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Amid festivals and relaxations, BMC likely to increase Covid-19 testing
BMC officials say along with more relaxations the instances of citizens self-testing has also increased in a few areas. This in a way adds up to the testing count and also results in early testing of infected people.
With festivals round the corner beginning with Raksha Bandhan on Sunday and a set of relaxations implemented in the last 10 days, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) may soon increase the daily testing of samples for Covid-19. In the last two days, the BMC has conducted a dry run by doubling its number of testing to gauge the situation.
Since the last two days, over 50,000 tests have been conducted in the city, the majority of which were done using rapid antigen kits. This is an increase from the daily 25,000 to 35,000 tests being conducted in the city until Wednesday. The BMC has said with relaxations and festivals round the corner, in the coming days the testing may be increased, if the need arises.
According to BMC officials, more testing of samples also leads to detecting cases faster which also results in early tracing of infected citizens. As per predictions of experts and authorities, the third wave of Covid-19 cases is likely to kick in anytime between September or October, during the festive season.
Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner of the BMC said, “In the last two days, we did a trial run by increasing our testing numbers to above 50,000. However, it will remain around 35,000 for now. But in the coming days depending on the situation, we may have to increase testing.”
“However, when we increase our testing, major reliance will be on RT-PCR testing and rapid antigen tests equally. Ultimately, when we have to increase our testing, we will have to focus on places with high footfall. For instance, malls again depending on whether they are open or not, hawkers, shopkeepers. We will have to target those who have multiple layers of contact,” Kakani added.
In Mumbai, overall, as of August 19, 2021, 740,290 cases have been detected by testing 8,855,005 samples. The overall positivity rate is 8.36% and the daily positivity rate is hovering between 0.50% to 1% in the last few days. In Mumbai, a total of 8,050,775 citizens have been traced as part of the contact tracing method for Covid-19. A total of 8,0171,766 have completed home quarantine and currently 32,256 are under home quarantine.
According to BMC officials, along with more relaxations the instances of citizens self-testing has also increased in a few areas. This in a way adds up to the testing count and also results in early testing. Prashant Gaikwad, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of D Ward under whom the BMC’s jurisdiction areas like Malabar Hill, Tardeo fall said, “There are many areas in my ward where citizens are going outstation for work. On their return, they get tested and there are times even their family members get tested. This in a way helps in early testing and tracing of infected patients.”
Dr Madhav Sathe, Retired Microbiology Professor at Nair Hospital in Mumbai said, “I do understand that there are less people willing to come up for testing but at the least we need 20,000 RT-PCR testing on a daily basis. Looking at the current relaxations and festivals coming up, we should at least have 40 to 50 thousand tests conducted in Mumbai of which 60% should be RT-PCR and 40% should be done through rapid antigen kits.”
