Maharashtra reports 34 more COVID-19 cases; tally rise to 3,236

The number of COVID-19 patients in Maharashtra reached 3,236 on Friday with 34 more persons testing positive for the infection, an official said. Of the new cases, the highest, 23, were recorded in Pune since Thursday evening, while six more persons were diagnosed with the infection in Mumbai, said the state health department official. Four cases were detected in Malegaon town of Nashik district and one in Thane, he added.

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BMC changes testing protocol

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday modified its testing protocol and procedure amid rising COVID-19 cases in Mumbai. It has now decided to conduct tests for asymptomatic patients only after seven days of quarantine to avoid the possibility of "false negatives". Until now, the BMC was conducting swab tests of high- risk contacts of positive patients as soon as they were quarantined. This also comes as a U-turn after BMC issued a circular on April 12 that it will prioritise testing of symptomatic high-risk contacts of Covid-19 patients over asymptomatic ones.

Notably, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guideline states that all asymptomatic high-risk contacts are to be tested between fifth and 14th day of suspected exposure. However, BMC's own data shows that at least 60% to 70% of coronavirus cases in Mumbai till now have been asymptomatic.

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No community transmission 

The civic body clarified that there has been no community transmission of the infection in Mumbai, which has reported over 2,000 coronavirus cases so far. Additionally, the circular said that it had conducted over 27,000 COVID-19 tests, which is 12.59 percent of the total number of tests carried out in the country so far.

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According to the release, the civic body has set up 97 fever clinics across the city and 3,585 persons were screened at these facilities, which are located near containment zones where one or more COVID-19 cases were reported. Of the 912 persons tested at these clinics, only five were found to be positive, thus ruling out the possibility of community transmission, the civic body claimed. The release also stated that over 6,000 people had used the civic body's helpline for medical advice about coronavirus. 

(PTI image)