Kalyan-Dombivli sees drop in cases and testing

KALYAN: The number of daily Covid cases in Kalyan-Dombivli has reduced to around 500-600 cases with the exception of May 5. However, the number of tests conducted too is less, as per the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) record.

The number of daily tests conducted is now almost down to 3,000-4,000 per day as against the 5,000 tests conducted till the previous week.

Dr Pratibha Panpatil, epidemic officer, KDMC, claimed that the positivity rate has decreased from 25 per cent to 11 per cent since the first two weeks of April.

The number of reduced testing might be one of the prime reasons for the decrease, though the KDMC has claimed that the number of people getting tested has reduced so also the contact tracing. Due to the lockdown, positive patients come in contact with fewer people.

The cases in the twin cities have seen a decline since April 26 as the daily case count reduced below 1,000. Since May 4, the cases have been stable at 500-600. The twin cities recorded 606 cases on May 6.

During the spike in the first two weeks of April, the tests conducted were around 5,000 to 6,000 per day.

Meanwhile, in the first week of April, the civic body recorded 29 deaths, which is lower compared to the first week of May, which recorded 62 deaths. In April, a total of 173 deaths were recorded.

Panpatil said, “The cases have dipped generally everywhere, and we believe it is due to the curbs imposed to restrict public movement. The high risk and low risk contacts have reduced too as the positive patients come less in contact with the people around. However, we have now decided to do the contact tracing aggressively. The testing will be increased in the coming days with proper survey carried out across the city by our teams.”

In the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, KDMC has the highest number of progressive cases reported, 1.30 lakh recorded till date. The civic body claims to be tracing 1:8 of high-risk contacts and 1:22 of low-risk contacts. Presently, the civic body is carrying out both RT-PCR and antigen tests at its 32 centres.

The Ulhasnagar police have arrested 40-year-old Mukesh Keswani for allegedly dealing in duplicate swab test kits of an international company in Khemani, Ulhasnagar. “We have arrested the accused and are probing him about his business related to the swab kits,” said RB Kadam, senior police inspector, Ulhasnagar police station.