Panvel Municipal Corporation to test all residents in areas with more than 5 Covid-19 cases

PMC officials said raising the number of daily tests to 2,500 will help them manage the Covid-19 pandemic better. Representation pic

Facing the brutal brunt of the second wave of Covid-19, the Panvel civic body will ramp up testing. Officials said each and every person in an area with more than 5 infected people will now be tested. It has reported records deaths in May.

The Panvel Municipal Corporation has also roped in private labs to take up the task and manage the pandemic, which has claimed record lives in areas under the corporation.

Since March 1, PMC has reported 25,631 positive cases with a test positivity rate of 15-20 per cent. This is much higher compared to corporations in its vicinity. In the same period, 23,945 patients have recovered. In these days, it carried out 1,28,958 tests with a daily average of 1,612. Officials said daily tests must cross 2,500 for better management of the pandemic.

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Civic officials said residents in containment zones are reluctant to go for testing despite developing Covid-19 symptoms and delayed testing is adding to the casualties. To counter this, PMC has decided to test each and every person in containment zones having more than 5 cases.

"As per government rules, we designate places that have fewer than 5 positive cases as containment zones, from 5 to 15 as micro containment zones and macro zones have more than 15 positive cases," said a PMC official. "We have now instructed our health department to test every person in micro and macro zones. This is to cover as much as the population in these zones to contain the spread," the official added.

PMC Commissioner Sudhakar Deshmukh said the drive is an attempt to stem the spread of infection. "We are reporting between 100 and 200 cases per day. Considering the environment in PMC it's quite high. Residents of any building or area declared as micro or macro zones have to undergo tests or get them tested. If they don't do so, they will be liable for action [under the Epidemic Disease Act or Disaster Management Act]."

Deaths all-time high

While PMC had managed to keep fatalities low last time, it has lost many citizens in the second wave. In April, 188 deaths were reported by it. In the first 19 days of May, it has seen 208 deaths, crossing the 200 mark for the first time. It has now even surpassed Covid-19 related fatalities in Navi Mumbai Municipal area.

1,612
Daily average of tests being done by PMC