Cases rising fast, officials say it's a result of increased testing

Navi Mumbai has had a 16-day complete lockdown this month, with several hotspots locked down currently

Despite a 16-day complete lockdown and an ongoing lockdown at 42 hotspots for the past nine days, COVID-19 cases in Navi Mumbai are not showing any signs of decrease. The daily rise in cases has crossed the 300 mark and the mortality remains 3 per cent.

Officials of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) have attributed the rise to aggressive testing along with antigen tests. Cases should eventually decrease, they said.

The civic body had imposed a complete lockdown in 12 Containment Zones from June 29 to July 6, and a complete lockdown in the entire city from July 3 to 13.

The lockdown was extended till July 19. The city now has 42 hotspots under complete lockdown till July 31.

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An NMMC official said, "Yes there are more than 300 cases getting reported every day but this is because of aggressive testing coupled with massive antigen testing. On average, we are doing 1,000 antigen tests per day, which helps focus on the correct patients and save time. This will reflect in bigger numbers getting reported but it will change soon."

Micro lockdowns
NMMC Commissioner Abhijit Bangar has started region-wise meetings in the city to understand the situation in the city and has ordered micro lockdowns.

Houses or buildings with five or more patients will result in sealing in a 100-metre periphery. People will not be allowed to emerge from Containment Zones and all essentials will be provided by the civic body.

In the past six days, 1,906 cases have been reported in Navi Mumbai while 43 have died and 1,413 have recovered. The number of active cases right now is 4,400.

With regard to the antigen tests, more than 6,000 have been done so far, of which 900 have returned positive.

"Increasing cases indicate that despite a lockdown, the spread has not been contained. The civic body and police need to go to the micro-level and put in best efforts," said Gajanan Kale, Navi Mumbai MNS chief.

6k
Approx. no. of antigen tests done so far

42
No. of hotspots under lockdown till July 31

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