In an effort to increase the number of Covid-19 tests in the country’s commercial capital, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday opened up testing to all Mumbaikars, irrespective of whether they have symptoms or not, and without a doctor’s prescription or self declaration.
In line with the guidelines issued recently by the Indian Council Medical Research (ICMC) to do away with earlier mandate that allowed only patients with symptoms and a doctor's prescription were allowed to get tested, the BMC -- through a circular issued on Tuesday-- permitted the people to undergo Covid-19 tests at 17 designated private laboratories irrespective of whether they have symptoms or not, and without a doctor’s prescription or self declaration.
The BMC said that the 17 designated laboratories – names of which it has realised -- were free to conduct RT-PCR (real-time polymerase chain reaction) tests on any individual in accordance with ICMR guidelines without prescription from a doctor, including for home testing.
The BMC has fixed Rs 2,500 and Rs 2,800 as charges for per laboratory test and per home test respectively.
Announcing Covid-19 tests for all, Maharashtra minister and in-charge of Mumbai suburban district Aditya Thackeray tweeted: "The @mybmc has decided to open up testing to any individual in the city without prescription/ self attestation. Labs can now conduct RT PCR tests as per ICMR guidelines at the will of anyone. This will help citizens feel safer and test when they have a doubt, without any delays"
The BMC has been forefront of a grim battle being waged against Covid-19 in Mumbai, where there were 5002 deaths and 86509 infected cases till Tuesday evening.
Significantly enough, Mumbai on Tuesday surpassed China in terms of total deaths and infections and. China has witnessed 4,634 deaths and 83,565 cases, ranking at No. 22 on the Worldometer.
Contrary to the public perception, the BMC has conducted sizeable number Covid-19 tests ever since the pandemic broke out in the metropolis in the second week of March this year.
Currently, 4,000 to 4500 Covid-19 tests are conducted in Mumbai every day. So far, BMC has conducted 3.63 lakh tests – 27,916 per million – with a positivity rate of 23.49 per cent.
One of the reasons that has prompted the BMC to implement the ICMR guidelines to permit Covid-19 tests without doctor’s prescriptions was the concern that not testing asymptomatic people might lead to the spread of the virus and defeat the very idea of infection containment.