Covid-19 testing increased six-fold in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad city

The city has recorded over 9,000 cases of coronavirus so far.

Covid-19 testing in Aurangabad city has increased six-fold and the nine-day lockdown was used aggressively for detection of cases, municipal commissioner Astik Kumar said on Friday.

“Before the lockdown on July 9, we were sending 700 to 800 swabs for testing per day, of which 150 to 200 persons tested positive for the infection,” the civic chief said. (Pratham Gokhale/HT file photo. Representative image)

The city has recorded over 9,000 cases of coronavirus so far.

“Before the lockdown on July 9, we were sending 700 to 800 swabs for testing per day, of which 150 to 200 persons tested positive for the infection,” the civic chief said.

During the nine-day lockdown, testing was ramped up to 5,000 samples per day, of which 250 to 280 persons tested positive, he said, adding that the aggressive testing had helped in early detection of cases.

As of Thursday, nearly 9,300 cases were recorded in the city, Kumar said.

The doubling rate in the city has improved to 31 days from earlier 19 days recorded in June, he added.

At least 12 health teams were stationed at the entry points of the city, while two were deployed at the railway station, the civic chief said, adding that the number will be increased to 21 next month.