Mumbai ramps up testing to three-fold to 4,000 samples a day

Starts door-to-door screening in Worli and Dharavi; 81% tested in Maharashtra are asymptomatic; BMC awaits rapid antibody test kits; isolation centres, Covid-19 beds being added rapidly

Mumbai, the country’s worst-hit city by the novel coronavirus, is now trying to ramp up testing, even as it awaits the delivery of rapid antibody test kits.
 

“Testing has increased, and we are testing around 4,000 people daily. We are following guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and utilising all available resources to test immediate and high-risk contacts of positive cases and all those with Covid-19 symptoms,” Dr Daksha Shah, deputy executive health officer, BMC, told Business Standard.
 

Earlier, Mumbai, which has an estimated population of nearly 20 million, was testing 1,200-1,400 people per day.
 

She added