Doctors say Mumbai could be seeing a new wave of cases in the coming months.
COVID-19 test numbers saw a sudden drop of up to 72% during the long holiday period in Mumbai this month, raising concern among doctors. The city was running an average of 13,000-14,000 tests at the beginning of November, but now it has dropped to fewer than 4,000.
On November 5, for example, Mumbai did more than 14,000 tests. Ten days later, the tests fell 72% to 3,918 tests. Only 5,399 tests were conducted in Mumbai on Diwali last Saturday, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) panel.
Doctors who are part of the Maharashtra government’s COVID-19 task force find this drop alarming.
“Obviously, positive outpatients have dropped to less than 500. This is very concerning. Don’t be afraid of any test and there shouldn’t be any stigma associated with it. If we have to give the coronavirus an adequate response, the measure is the right one. test, “trace and treat. TTT, “Dr. Rahul Pandit, member of the Task Force.
The BMC, meanwhile, believes that many people have not made it to hospitals and testing centers because of Diwali and that is why there is a sudden decrease in the number of tests. Doctors say the city could be seeing a new wave of cases like Delhi’s in the coming months.
“In Delhi today, there is another wave going on as winter approaches. Cases may increase in the next month. We must be prepared for this and the BMC must increase testing. And we must test and put quarantine asymptomatic patients with and those with mild symptoms so that they do not spread the disease, “said Dr. Mohammad Irshad Faruqi, general practitioner.
A Maharashtra government circular dated November 11, meanwhile, warns of a new wave of the pandemic in January-February, warning against any laxity.
However, the state has seen a significant decline in testing. At the beginning of September and beginning of October, between 90,000 and 100,000 tests were carried out daily, which has now been reduced to 45,000-50,000.
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