Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to selectively test asymptomatic high-risk people. The civic body has also decided that a suspected coronavirus death will be subjected to audit before confirmed as one. The asymptomatic high-risk people are the close contacts of the positive COVID-19 cases.
This is against the guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) which are to test all asymptomatic high-risk contacts including family members. The duration is between the fifth and 14th day of suspected exposure to the infection.
The BMC, however, will test asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts patients after careful observation between days five and 14 and they will need to be quarantined for 14 days. The civic body will also decide that high-risk contacts may be tested on 5th day but only after careful observation.
BMC stated that the purpose of identifying positive patients from a community is not being served through full utilisation of available testing services. The swab testing to identify positive patients from the community is not being achieved as most of the asymptomatic people being tested unnecessarily, the civic body said.
The BMC has decided to not collect samples from people don’t have symptoms. However, in Mumbai, 70 per cent of the coronavirus cases in Mumbai till now have been asymptomatic, the Indian Express reported.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Devendra Fadnavis demanded that the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in the state should direct BMC to follow the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines in order to test people for the coronavirus or COVID-19.
Maharashtra Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope earlier informed that the rate of doubling of the coronavirus or COVID-19 has been slowing down in the state. The minister said that the doubling rate for coronavirus cases has slowed down to nearly six days from two days.
The rate when COVID-19 cases double from its earlier figure is known as doubling rate. It was earlier two days which slowed down to three and a half days and now it is five and a half days, the Maharashtra health minister said.
Maharashtra has become the worst-hit and first state to cross the 3,000-mark with 3,320 COVID-19 cases and the death toll has risen up to 201. Of the 3,320 cases of the coronavirus in Maharashtra, over 2,000 cases have been reported in Mumbai.
Maharashtra Has Tested 51,000 Samples For Coronavirus Till Now
Coronavirus Doubling Rate In Maharashtra Has Slowed Down Significantly: Rajesh Tope
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