Jumbo rapid antigen testing drive: 76 of 7,962 frontliners test +ve in 2 days

MUMBAI: Since Saturday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has tested 7,962 frontliners – police and civic employees – using the rapid antigen testing kits, of whom 76 (0.98%) have tested positive, data shows. The overall positivity rate of rapid antigen tests in the city stands at 8.4%, with 1,460 of the 17,331 tests positive.

So far, more than 3,600 police and 2,000 civic officials have contracted the infection in the line of duty. For months, BMC has been widely criticised for not running universal tests on them for early diagnosis. After receiving promising responses in the antigen tests done in different wards, BMC started the jumbo antigen testing.

Of the 17,331 people tested, 6,437 are workers from the solid waste management department, of whom 45 (0.69%) came positive. Of the 1,525 policemen who were tested, 31 (2%) have come positive. “We were concerned that the positivity rate would be high among frontliners. But thankfully, the infection rate is low. From the beginning of the infection, we gave proper protective kits to them, which helped stop the spread,” said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner, BMC.

Like RT-PCR, rapid antigen kits detect the presence of molecular pathogens of the coronavirus. But RT-PCR takes almost eight hours to give results, while reports of the antigen-based test that uses nasal swab samples are out within 30 minutes.

According to BMC officials, as the solid waste management employees have to go to containment zones and work in close proximity with infected people, they are more susceptible to the virus. “These employees can’t stop collecting garbage from contaminated buildings. Similarly, police officers have to work in containment zones to keep an eye on people. They are breathing in areas filled with pathogens of the virus. This makes them the most vulnerable group,” said Kakani.

“All positive BMC staff were asymptomatic, so there was no need to run an RT-PCR test for a second diagnosis. They are stable and most of them have been kept under home observation,” said a senior official from BMC.

Antigen testing has given a huge boost to the per-day testing capacity in the city. Till the end of June, BMC was testing around 4,500 people daily. The average testing rate has now increased to 6,000. On July 24, the city made a record by testing the highest number of people — 7,609 people in a single day for the first time since March. “The testing number will rise over 10,000 now. But, as data shows, the positivity rate is still constant and hasn’t shown any sudden spike,” said Kakani.