Fewer tests lead to dip in cases

MUMBAI: After recording around 20,000 Covid cases for four days in a row, Mumbai witnessed a fall on Monday at 13,648 due to the fewer tests conducted in the city.

In the past 24 hours, 59,242 tests were conducted against an average of 70,000 tests earlier last week. The test positivity rate (TPR) fell by one per cent as Monday recorded 23.03 per cent TPR. Five deaths were reported on Monday taking the toll to 16,411, while the overall case tally reached 9,28,220.

Meanwhile, both experts and senior officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that the ongoing week will play a key role to determine the further action.

Suresh Kakani, the additional municipal commissioner and in charge of public health in the BMC, said that with nearly 60,000 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the Covid graph has showed a downward trend.

“An adequate number of tests were done in the last 24 hours, which showed a decreased positivity rate. But we are not getting carried away because we need to be sure first whether this downward trend is just a one-day phenomenon or the numbers have seriously started to decline. Also, the rate of hospitalisation is something that we are concerned about and we need to see if the bed occupancy level rises throughout this week,” said Kakani.

Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the Maharashtra Covid task force, said that the number of actual cases in Mumbai could be higher than the reported figures as many citizens are taking the rapid antigen test at their home and getting themselves treated privately.

“While the numbers suggest that we are inching towards a plateau, we also have to consider that the laboratories in Mumbai are overwhelmed with the samples and have already reached a saturation level. Instead of focusing on the numbers, we will have to concentrate on other key factors like bed occupancy, doubling rate and patients that require oxygen and ventilation for treatment,” said Dr Joshi.