Mumbai: Covid-19 tests drop 16 per cent during Diwali

A health worker collects a swab sample of a passenger at Dadar station. File pic/Suresh Karkera

The number of daily COVID tests declined by almost 16 per cent during Diwali, from an average of 35,257 tests daily in October to 29,777 during the first week of November. The number of new COVID cases, too, dropped below 200. The city had earlier reported such a low number of cases in the early phase of the pandemic, the first week of April 2020. However, the decline in new cases may be the result of fewer tests conducted during the festive season.

Additional BMC Commissioner Suresh Kakani said, "We are doing target testing rather than just increasing the number of tests. Tests of vulnerable people who have symptoms or are visiting hospitals are conducted. Even the test positivity rate is declining, which is a positive sign."

During the past three months, from August to October, more than 11 lakh tests were conducted every month with an average of above 35,000 per day. As Diwali approached, the number declined to less than 30,000.

"It is observed that the tests drop during the festive season. It will gather momentum in the coming week," said an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

On Saturday the city recorded 176 cases after conducting 25,431 tests with a test positivity rate of 0.7 per cent. The TPR was around 1 per cent in the second half of October. On August 19, the city recorded the lowest TPR of the second wave at 0.53%, after which the graph was gradually going up.