Even as the authorities are anticipating a second Covid-19 wave by December-end, the daily testing in Maharashtra dropped significantly in November to 63,166. It was 70,393 in October and 88,209 in September, according to the official data.
After the second peak of the first wave in September, the daily caseload started receding gradually. In November, the cases and deaths dropped by 50% compared to October and September. From 293,960 Covid-19 cases and 7,249 deaths in October, they dropped to 14,5490 and 3,240. The monthly positivity rate also came down to around 7.5%. The recovery rate went past 90% in November.
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Experts have advised the government to keep up the aggressive testing. During Diwali, between November 11 and 17, the daily average testing dropped down to 44,470. It went up to over 80,000 tests in the last 10 days of November.
“The drop in the tests was the result of holidays and also complacency that had come with the dip in the number of the caseload, which dropped to as low as 2,535 on November 16. We have increased the testing now,” a state health department official said.
{{/usCountry}}“The drop in the tests was the result of holidays and also complacency that had come with the dip in the number of the caseload, which dropped to as low as 2,535 on November 16. We have increased the testing now,” a state health department official said.
{{/usCountry}}Pradeep Awate, a state surveillance officer, said the testing is done as per requirements and without aiming at any daily figure.
Shashank Joshi, a member of the state-appointed Covid-19 Task Force, said that the government has been advised to keep the testing rate high and track suspected patients early to keep the mortality low. “The number of testing has increased over the last few days. The aggressive testing will help in treating people early and keep the spread and mortality rate in check,” he said. “The local bodies have been told to track the suspected contacts aggressively at the ratio of 1:20 so that they are treated early. Our aim is to bring the positivity rate below 5%...”
Joshi said they expect a gradual rise in the Covid-19 cases over the next few weeks and a peak or second wave between December 25 and January 26.