Covid-19: TPR declines in Mumbai as number of tests increase

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Staring at the possibility of another Covid-19 wave in the coming weeks, the number of RT-PCR tests conducted in the city have been increased at airports or for symptomatic patients in hospitals. This has only resulted in the test positivity rate dropping. In the third wave, the highest TPR recorded in Mumbai was 30 per cent on January 6, 2022.

In December, around 2,200 daily tests were conducted across the city. The test positivity rate (positive results per 100 tests) was 0.34 per cent. In other words, one person was found infected with Covid-19 in every 300 people. As the test numbers increased after the government ordered 2 per cent random testing at airports, there is hardly any change in the number of positive patients. As per the information given by the state government, out of the 97,805 international passengers who arrived in the state, 1,926 were tested and four came out positive with 0.21 test positivity rate. Two are from Pune, one each from Goa and Navi Mumbai.

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Similarly, in Mumbai, 11,240 tests were conducted from December 27 to 30 with an average of 2,800 daily tests. Twenty-four people were found positive with the TPR of 0.21 per cent. "Positive results are very low, which is a good sign. But we will keep the infrastructure ready for conducting more tests so that we can track, test and treat the patients and curb the spread," said an official from the BMC.