City’s positive rate drops to 14.26%

Covid-19 testing in the city up by 12% in October; more people are aware of coronavirus symptoms now and consult doctors before condition worsens

The civic body has increased their daily testing due to which the positivity rate of Mumbai has dropped to 14.26 per cent in October from 17 per cent in September. Also, Covid-19 testing in the city has increased by 12 per cent this month. Civic officials attributed this to the several initiatives undertaken along with ‘ My Family My Responsibility’ to curb the cases. Citizens have now become aware of corona symptoms. They consult doctors before their condition worsens.

The positivity rate stands for the percentage of people who test positive for the virus of the overall number of those tested. According to the statistics, 3,28,989 Covid-19 testing was conducted, of which 46,936 (14.26%) were tested positive in October, compared to 2,94,649 tests carried out last month.

According to data analysed by The Free Press Journal, based on information from the BMC dashboard, of the total 2,94,649 tests conducted during September 1-25, of which 49,334 individuals were diagnosed Covid-positive, while in the last 25 days, 46,936 of the total 3,28,989 people tested positive. “The positivity rate was 17 per cent from September 1 to 25, which has come down to 14.26 per cent between October 1 to 25, which is the good sign for the city,” said a health official.

Currently, Mumbai’s over positivity rate stands at 17.25 per cent. Till October 25, 2,51,283 of the 14,56,838 people who underwent testing were found positive.

Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner, BMC said there are many factors due to which daily cases in Mumbai are under control. Officials expect cases to increase during the festivals. “We have taken several initiatives due to which we have yielded good results. We expect there will be a slight rise in positivity rate amid festivals, but the weekly growth rate and recovery rate of Mumbai has increased,” he said.

Kakani further said the testing had been ramped up following a decision taken in August, resulting in more cases being detected. Around 13,000- 15,000 tests are being conducted every day since September he informed.

“We have increased Covid-19 testing by 50 per cent. Until August 24, we were averaging around 5,500 tests in the city. But now, this number is almost 15,000. At two instances the daily testing had crossed 16,000-mark, excluding rapid tests,” he said.