Why Mumbai needs to co-operate and get tested by BMC

Mumbaikars continue to turn their backs on BMCs mass testing with less than 200 daily tests done in wards Symptomatic people and their families are turning to private labs instead This is hampering the mitigation of the pandemic as a large number of asymptomatic patients go undetected spread the virus further and make unlocking difficultMumbaikars continue to turn away from BMCs mass testing resulting in less than 200 daily tests in the wards Fear of social boycott distrust of the civic setup and fear of quarantine are still rampant among peopleFor instance Zone VII that comprises Dahisar Borivli and Kandivli has met only onethird of its testing target in the past two weeks People are going to private labs but only if they have symptomsmidday had reported the municipal chiefs testing targets for all wards with seven of them having a target of 1000 tests dailyThe three wards in the zone mdash with Borivli having the target of 1000 tests mdash decided to set up camps in particular buildings It resulted in the wards racing to the top in terms of growth rate of positive cases The number of cases increased in Zone VII with increased testing In the past two weeks around 12000 tests were conducted half of them Borivli alone said Vishwas Shankarwar deputy municipal commissioner of the zonePeople get tested for symptomsAlthough the zone is trying hard it is far away from its target of 28000 From August 17 to September 2 mdash there was no testing on August 22 and 23 due to Ganeshotsav mdash Dahisar ward carried out 3837 tests Borivli tested 5712 people and Kandivli had 2286 tests and the number of positive cases was 662 1851 and 1296 respectively This number also includes the results of tests in private labs which are approximately double than the civic bodysA civic testing camp at MHB Colony in Borivli PICSATEJ SHINDEShankarwar added People are not ready to do a test if they dont have any symptoms There are issues of stigma and going in quarantineVidyarthi Singh BJP corporator from Borivli East told midday There is at least some response from slums you can convince the residents But building residents turn their backs to campsCharkop appears to have some success Its corporator Sandhya Doshi said I dont know about other wards but we get good response for COVID testing There are no slums in my wardOther areas struggling tooThe same reluctance is witnessed in other areas too After a priest at one of the churches appealed around 100 people turned up for testing in Bandra Otherwise only 2030 people come for testing said Asif Zakaria corporator from Bandra WestWe tried to do tests at commercial establishments also but in vain Residents from towers prefer private labs as the workers come to their homes and wear PPE kits in front of them In slums any area that BMC workers wearing PPE kits visit is boycotted by others said a ward officer from South MumbaiAlmost twothirds of the tests are done by private labs On Thursday out of 9862 tests 6580 were done in private labs said a BMC officerA top officer from the BMC pointed out People go to private labs at their family doctors advice If one person tests positive everyone from the family gets tested This why the number in private labs is highWe have put up posters in every building and are continuing to take corporators help said Suresh Kakani additional municipal commissionerMyths and facts about getting testedA Kandivli resident gets tested at a camp at a Shiv Sena shakha PICSATEJ SHINDEMyth BMC wants to boost numbersmake money and is hence showing fake positivesBMC SAYS While there are rumours of private labsprivate hospitals nexus BMC has not benefited if COVID19 numbers are increasing On the contrary the corporation has warned hospitals against admitting asymptomatic patients or offering ICUs for mildly symptomatic patientsMyth I will be forced to be quarantined and lose my job etcBMC SAYS BMC does not force anyone into institutional quarantine You can work from home and it is better to remain at home instead of spreading the virus which will affect the health of not just you but your family colleagues and ultimately the economy and your job tooMyth COVID Care Centres are dirty and dont have enough facilitiesBMC SAYS The centres are managed by contractors and there are a few issues But now 80 per cent of the patients are from highrise buildings so they can quarantine at homeMyth I am all right I dont need to get a test doneBMC SAYS Even if you are asymptomatic there is a possibility that you can spread the virusMyth People will boycott me and my familyBMC SAYS BMC is spreading awareness about this Lets overcome the stigma it is ultimately beneficial for your own healthKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel 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