The number of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai is likely to see a spike due to a recent change in national testing guidelines, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief Iqbal Singh Chahal said on Wednesday.
"Due to the recent change in the National Covid testing guidelines 2 days ago, where it has been directed that only symptomatic cases will be tested, it is likely to create spike in positivity as most of the symptomatic cases would be almost confirmed positive cases," Chahal said.
Meanwhile, Mumbai on Wednesday reported more than 16,000 COVID-19 cases, a rise of nearly 5,000 from yesterday. Besides, seven COVID-19 deaths were recorded in the day, taking the toll to 16,420.
Earlier in the day, the Maharashtra cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray admitted that the COVID-19 situation in the state was alarming and decided to focus on tracking, tracing, testing and vaccination and above all strict implementation of curbs introduced to control crowding. The state has 2,06,046 ctive COVID-19 cases and weekly positivity rate of 21.39%.