Though cases in city are going down, experts and officials warn Mumbaikars not to drop their guard; urge them to get tested without delay
A passenger is tested at Dadar station on Monday. Pic/Ashish Raje
COVID-19 cases in the city are steady at over 3,000 per day, but the low number of tests is a cause of worry for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). So much, that the civic commissioner, Iqbal Singh Chahal, has appealed to citizens to ensure that tests continue in the city. The number of tests done on Sunday was barely 28,000. If Mumbaikars want to see an end to the pandemic, getting tested is their simple and most effective weapon, he said.
A sample being collected at Dadar station on Monday. Pic/Ashish Raje
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It has been the consistent policy of the BMC to carry out maximum tests in the city, and this aggressive testing policy has resulted in the reduction of the positivity rate. If sources are to be believed, experts have advised the BMC to maintain the high rate of tests even if the number of cases in the city are steady and not growing.
The highest single day testing from March 2020 till February 10, 2021 was 24,500. Immediately thereafter testing was more than doubled, and there were 56,000 tests on a single day in April. The average daily testing in the month of April was nearly 44,000. It has been observed that the test figure has fallen in the past few days from over 50,000 to 28,000 on Sunday. It is likely to fall further during weekends. On Monday there were hardly 23,000 tests.
Civic officials feel this could be because of the reducing number of cases. They feel this is why the natural demand for home collection of swabs by citizens in the past few days also may have dipped substantially. The BMC wants at least 40,000 tests per day.
Chahal said, “I request citizens to come forward and get themselves tested to increase COVID testing to the maximum level.” This will ensure that the test positivity ratio is also in check and remains below 10 per cent; the aim is to reach below 5 per cent.
23,000
No. of tests done on Monday
40k
No. of tests the BMC wants to carry out every day
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