Mumbai to prioritise testing high-risk contacts with symptoms, move raises questions

Mumbai: Mumbai’s civic body, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), issued a circular on April 12 specifying that it will prioritise testing of symptomatic high-risk contacts of Covid-19 patients in the city, marking a shift in its strategy and raising questions in the process.

The move means BMC and private laboratories in the city will not test those who have had contact with a Covid-19 positive case but are not showing any symptoms. Such people will be kept in quarantine and their condition monitored, said officials. So far, BMC has been carrying out more than 2,000 tests per day, the highest in the country.

“Most of Mumbai hospitals are under tremendous strain due to a massive influx of Covid-19 cases,” said a BMC official, who did not wish to be identified. “BMC is looking to just admit the symptomatic cases on priority since those with symptoms are succumbing quickly, especially if they have co-morbidities. This way, we can focus more on those who have symptoms and co-morbidities.”


However, BMC’s own data has shown that more than 65% of those who have been tested have been asymptomatic, meaning they were infected but did not know it, said people aware of the matter. The revised testing guidelines would mean that the number of infected people would come down as only symptomatic people would be tested, but there would be more cases later on if symptoms start developing among asymptomatic people, they said.

Mumbai has been adding on an average around 150 to 200 patients every day. The move is a change in the strategy from the BMC that was going aggressive on carrying out tests. The Mumbai civic administration had been carrying out the highest number of tests across states with more than 2,000 tests per day

The circular directed government and private labs to prioritise high-risk contacts of Covid-19 patients, people aged more than 60 years, pregnant women, those on dialysis, those under treatment of cancer and healthcare workers who are exposed to Covid-19 patients.

Maharashtra has among the highest mortality rates among people succumbing to the disease across the country. Senior BMC officials and health officials held a meeting on Monday to find out a way to bring down the mortality rate.