Mumbai civic body to start jumbo Covid-19 testing for front line staff from Friday

As part of its jumbo antigen testing drive, starting July 24, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will begin test 10,000 Covid-19 frontline workers, including

As part of its jumbo antigen testing drive, starting July 24, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will begin test 10,000 Covid-19 frontline workers, including police officers, medicos and volunteers. Additionally, eight private laboratories will also begin testing residents quarantined in housing societies in north Mumbai.

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After procuring 1 lakh antigen kits earlier this month, BMC has been testing around 500 people every day since July 3. The jumbo antigen testing drive will target more than 3,000 people daily.

Similar to the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, which is considered a gold standard, rapid antigen kits detect the presence of molecular pathogens of the novel coronavirus. While RT-PCR takes almost eight hours to give results, antigen-based test use nasal swab samples and results are available in 30 minutes.

“Of the more than 9,000 people tested at both CCCs [Covid care centres] and hospitals, only 1% who tested negative have turned positive in the RT-PCR tests. With this promising success rate, we have decided to test around 10,000 frontliners from Friday,” said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner, BMC. “At present, the civic body is conducting an average of 5,500 RT-PCR and around 500 antigen tests every day, which will now increase to 9,000 with the jumbo testing scheme. While positive cases are likely to rise, it will help diagnose asymptomatic frontliners and speed up treatment,” he said.

Since early July, BMC has been testing high risk contacts at the CCC-1 centres (where high risk contacts are kept for observation) in Dahisar, Borivli (West), Kandivli, Malad, Goregaon, Mulund, Ghatkopar and Andheri (East). Sanjog Kabare, assistant municipal commissioner of P (South) ward said, “We are making a list of private residential buildings with the highest number of Covid-19 cases. Currently, antigen testing is being carried out in nine wards, and have instructed the laboratories to so the same.”

Kabare said antigen tests in south Mumbai are being undertaken at certain hospitals like King Edward Memorial (KEM), BYL Nair and Kasturba Gandhi Hospitals.