Mumbai: BMC decreased testing despite Covid surge

From mid-February onwards till now, there has been a 41.4% drop in the number of Covid testing while the cases started to surge during the same period. According to the BMC data, 62,831 people (87 per day) underwent tests between January 16 and February 14 whereas the same figure stood at 36,826 (51 per day) between February 15 and March 16. The number of tests further dropped to 36,716 between March 17 and April 11. Notably, the test positivity rate (cases per 100 tests) increased to 10% from 0.99% during the same period.

Asserting that there was no need for increasing the testing, senior official from the civic health department pointed out that cases had drastically dropped and daily less than 10 cases were being reported in Mumbai back then.

BMC should be on alert

“Covid was totally under control hence conducting Covid test was not that mandatory. The testing was highest until January but we started to decrease it and people were also not coming forward to get tested even if they had symptoms,” he said, adding that testing was limited despite instructions to medical health officers for increasing the same.

Health experts said though citizens had dropped their guard, the BMC should have been on alert given the fact that there is constant mutation of SARS-CoV-2 virus. This time also the sub-lineage of the Omicron variant XBB.1.16 led to a surge across India including Mumbai.

“Decreasing Covid testing should not have been an option even if the cases plummeted. The BMC is lacking in testing and it is not vigilant, thinking that Covid has entered endemic stage,” they said.