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Navi Mumbai Draws Level With COVID-19; Conducts 3,000 Tests Every Day

The newly appointed municipal commissioner of Navi Mumbai is keeping his word, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has boosted testing in the past 15 days. From 400 tests per day, the number has gone up to 3,000 tests, including rapid antigen tests — which has resulted in a massive decrease in the Test Positivity Rate (TPR).

The corporation is waiting for ICMR’s nod as it has developed its own lab to conduct tests. After the easing of the lockdown in June, Navi Mumbai witnessed a huge increase in Covid-19 cases. Navi Mumbai is one of the major cities in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

Amidst low testing, COVID-19 was spreading rapidly. The city was put in lockdowns of different intensity between June 26 and July 19, its civic commissioner Annasaheb Misal was replaced by Abhijeet Bangar on July 14 with the agenda of tackling the rising infection.

An NMMC official said, “Rapid antigen tests began in Navi Mumbai on July 16. Now we are conducting 3,000 tests per day, In 15 days, we have conducted 16,320 tests and the number will increase every day.”

The massive decrease in the TPR in the 15 days is a relief for the city. According to NMMC data, the TPR on July 15 was 55 percent. With increased testing, it has improved to 22.06 percent. A low TPR indicates adequate testing. To further reduce it, the NMMC will now trace 22 to 24 close contacts of every positive case. Currently, Navi Mumbai has a total of 16,107 COVID-19 cases, out of which 4,818 are active. Its recovery rate is 67 percent, while 431 deaths have brought the mortality rate to 2.67 percent.

Abhijeet Bangar, NMMC commissioner said, “We are especially focusing on 46 micro Corona hotspots which we have identified and put under lockdown till August 31. We are testing each person with co-morbidities and keeping a special list of such residents and following up with them.”

Furthermore, he said, “This effort is to reduce the mortality rate, we all have resolved to bring it down from 2.67 percent to 0, Our lab is also ready to test 1,000 samples per day, and is awaiting the nod from ICMR.”

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