Coronavirus second wave in Mumbai: Day after highest daily cases, BMC to conduct rapid antigen tests outside malls, bus stops

Taken aback by the unprecedented rise in the number of Coronavirus cases in the capital city of Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will now conduct rapid antigen tests at crowded places like shopping malls, railway stations, and other important areas of the city. Senior BMC officials have decided that multiple teams of health workers will be deployed outside shopping malls, complexes, railway stations, and bus stops to randomly test the residents for Coronavirus, The Indian Express reported.

Rapid Antigen tests in comparison to the RT-PCR tests are not only quicker and obtain the result of the test in less than half an hour but also easier to conduct. However, according to the medical guidelines issued by the ICMR individuals who are exhibiting symptoms of Coronavirus mist also undergo the RT-PCR test if they have tested negative in the rapid antigen tests as the RT-PCR test gives more accurate results than the rapid antigen tests. The BMC has now decided to go for rapid antigen testing to track asymptomatic cases of Coronavirus because about 50 percent of the confirmed cases are asymptomatic and did not exhibit any Covid19 related ailments.

Mumbai, which was one of the worst affected cities in the state during the first wave of Coronavirus, on Friday registered a total of 3,062 new cases of Covid-19 which is the single highest tally of cases since the onset of the pandemic. With the addition of Friday’s tally, the total number of Coronavirus cases in the city has peaked at 3,55,897. Along with the high caseload, the total number of casualties related to Coronavirus reported on Friday was 10 taking the death toll in the city to 11,565. Most of the Coronavirus cases reported recently have been from high rise apartments in the city leading the BMC officials to seal many high rise apartments into Covid-19 containment zones. According to The Indian Express report, the BMC has sealed more than 300 residential complex buildings owing to the large number of Coronavirus positive cases in these buildings.