Health minister Rajesh Tope told TOI that given the rise in the positivity rate in six districts, health officials have been asked to ramp up testing urgently. At 4.5%, the state’s weekly positivity rate is steadily increasing. Mumbai (8.8%) and Palghar (4.9%) have exceeded the state average. Thane city on Monday registered a daily positivity rate of 20%, a near doubling from Sunday’s 10%.
“The weekly positivity rate in Mumbai is almost double the state’s average. We have asked the district administration to strictly increase testing in these districts,” said Tope. The state is clocking around 25,000 tests daily. A civic official said hospitals have been instructed to carry out an RTPCR test for every individual coming with fever, cold and flu to boost testing figures.
Hospitalisations in Mumbai continued to mark a steady increase. On Monday, 54 patients were admitted to various Covid hospitals, taking the count of hospitalised patients to 219. Across Maharashtra, 254 patients are admitted due to Covid, said the state figures. “Only 1.04% (61) of the active cases are serious,” said Tope. Three patients are on ventilator in the entire state, said officials, adding almost 96% cases are asymptomatic.
Tope said the state government has no plans of imposing any restrictions at the moment or bringing in mandatory masking. “We don’t want restrictions to be imposed and that is why we are appealing to the public to follow Covid norms. We have recently seen that after a party in a producer’s house, many Bollywood actors got infected. So, everyone must take precautions while attending mass events,” he said.
Interestingly, the state Covid-19 task force is not on the same page and had strongly recommended mandatory indoor masking to the government. “Despite the rise in cases, there are hardly any people masking on the streets or inside public transport,” said infectious disease expert Dr Vasant Nagvekar, a member of the task force.
Given the sharp rise in positivity, Thane municipal commissioner Dr Vipin Sharma held a review meeting. He said officials have been instructed to ensure testing increases, especially of contacts of any positive patient. “We will also step up vaccination drives in the city and appeal residents to take the jabs through door to door surveys,” said Dr Sharma.
(Inputs by Manoj Badgeri)
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/citys-weekly-positivity-rate-at-8-8-double-that-of-the-state/articleshow/92049258.cms
