The Test Positivity Rate (TPR) in the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking has fallen to 0.60 per cent this week. For fast paced contact tracing, the BEST medical team conducted rapid antigen tests of its employees. Between November and December, a total of 57 test camps were arranged in various BEST depots. A total of 5,198 frontline workers were tested, out of which only 32 were tested positive.
Medical officials of the undertaking said that out of the 32 patients, 25 have already recovered and the remaining seven patients are in a stable condition. Dr Anil Kumar Singhal, BEST Chief Medical Officer (CMO) said that his medical team is focused on bringing down the TPR below five per cent in the BEST undertaking. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had stated that a positivity rate below five percent means good control of the virus.
"The positivity rate has fallen because there has been an increased awareness amongst the employees regarding the infection of the virus, also the test results will help us in preparing the road map ahead of the vaccination drive," Singhal told FPJ.
Singhal added that his team has conducted more than 4,000 awareness lectures between April and November. As a proactive measure strips of Vitamin C, Zinc and immune boosting tablets were distributed amongst the employees.
Currently, there are only 25 active patients in the undertaking and the recovery rate has crossed the 95 per cent mark. Between April and December 24, there have been a total 2,887 cases in the undertaking out of which 2,763 patients have already been recovered.
In order to bring down the number of active cases and fatality rate in the undertaking, BEST had launched 'Mission Zero' earlier in November and in the past two months. “Now we are planning to conduct a sero survey among the employees that will help us understand whether there any herd immunity has developed among the frontline workers yet," Singhal stated.
