The COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting the patients of another highly infectious disease — tuberculosis (TB). While its detection fell in the early months of the pandemic, TB detection is gradually catching up with its pre-COVID average. However, the lack of transport, delayed test reports and inadequate nutrition have hit TB patients hard.

According to the civic body, prior to the pandemic, around 5,000 fresh TB were reported every month. During the months with the highest COVID cases, TB numbers plummeted to less than half primarily due to lack of public transport. "In April and May, we were seeing less than 2,000 cases. There was improvement June onwards as more people visited hospitals and there were around 2,400 new cases every month," said Dr Pranita Tipre, deputy health officer for TB in Mumbai.