Passengers being tested at Bandra station. Pics/SAtej Shinde and Shadab Khan
As the screening of passengers coming to Mumbai at railway stations has not yielded the desired results, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now focusing on door-to-door surveys for TB and leprosy patients, to find those positive for COVID-19. After 11 passengers were found positive on Day 1 of the testing at railway stations, the number did not go beyond five in the next four days. Civic officials say this could either be a positive sign or passengers have found a loophole in the system.
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The fear of COVID-19 transmission through reverse migration in the city has still not manifested, or at least the results of railway station screenings have depicted this. Only 20 passengers have been found positive even after the screening of more than 50,000 passengers on six railway stations.
Borivli station for COVID-19 on Sunday
The city is on COVID alert after reports of increasing cases came from the north of India. Amid discussions of a lockdown and cancellation of long-distance trains coming from northern states, the BMC started screening passengers for COVID from Wednesday. Health teams are deployed by the ward offices at six railway stations. On November 27, no positive patients were found in four stations, however, the data from Bandra and Borivli was not declared.
Also Read: One-third of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra from MMR
'Few positive patients'
A higher number of passengers arrive on Western Railway stations. BMC medical teams have been screening around 3,000 passengers daily at each station - Borivli, Bandra and Mumbai Central, but hardly one or two passengers were found positive. Vinayak Vispute, assistant commissioner of H west ward, said, "Our teams are examining more than 3,000 passengers daily and less than 10 per cent passengers are found symptomatic. The number of positive patients is very low." "No one was found positive among passengers who arrived on Mumbai Central till Sunday. Around 2,000 to 3,000 passengers arrive at Mumbai Central daily," said a D-ward officer.
Medical personnel collect swab samples for a COVID-19 test from arriving passengers at Bandra Terminus on Sunday. Pic/Shadab Khan
Even on Central Railway, symptomatic cases in arriving passengers are below 10 per cent. "In the past five days, our health teams screened 5,297 passengers. While the teams have conducted rapid antigen tests of 917 passengers who had symptoms, only six were positive. One passenger was sent to home isolation, while the other five were shifted to an isolation facility," said Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner of G North, from where a team is screening passengers at Dadar Central station.
Dr Prajakta Amberkar, medical officer of A ward, informed that their team is screening on an average 600 passengers daily and has done antigen tests of approximately 250 passengers. One patient was reported positive at CSMT.
Passengers being tested on arrival on Sunday at Borivli station. No one was found positive at Bandra or Borivli stations on Sunday. Pic/Satej Shinde
'Number should be higher'
A health officer pointed out that antigen tests have two per cent positivity rate in the city. Even going by that estimation, the number of positive passengers should be higher.
Another health officer said the passengers have found loopholes in the system. The BMC teams check the temperature before advising for antigen test, so many of them take pills one or two hours before arriving to reduce their temperature. "They are deceiving themselves through such practices. Most of them are from the labour class and don't want to isolate or lose daily wages for 14 days," he added.
"The BMC is screening people at multiple levels. Along with railway stations, the BMC is keeping tabs of closed houses during the My Family My Responsibility programme and taking many camps in slums to detect COVID-19. From December 1, the door-to-door survey for tuberculosis and leprosy will begin. Even in that survey, the BMC teams will look for symptomatic COVID patients," said Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner.
3,000
No. of passengers screened daily at 3 major stations in city
Found positive at stns
November 25: 11
November 26: 3
November 28: 4
November 29: 2
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