Despite the civic body's attempts to extend the scope of rapid antigen testing by roping in private laboratories in the western suburbs, the initiative hasn't been widely welcomed and many are reluctant to be tested. The process was started in P North and P South wards earlier this week and after covering over 7,400 houses, cumulatively, the BMC has been able to test less than 200 people, of whom 17 were positive.

Last week, the health department floated a tender to fix a rate for antigen tests and appoint private laboratories. In the meantime, two private laboratories, Thyrocare Technologies and Suburban Diagnostics were roped in to test residents in Containment Zones of P South ward (Malad) July 14 onwards and P North ward (Goregaon) July 16 onwards. In P North, teams have surveyed around 5,700 houses and tested only 127 people of which 14 tested positive. In P South, 1,712 houses were surveyed, 57 people were tested, three returned positive.