On a day when 44,000-odd Covid-19 tests were done, the test positivity percentage came down to a single digit in Mumbai, even as the bed availability went up to 5,725 in 172 hospitals across the metropolis.
Confirming the development, Mumbai Municipal Commissioner I S Chahal said here on Friday: “At a time when we are doing 44,000 Covid-19 tests in the metropolis, our positivity has come down to a single digit. We are perhaps the only in India with single digit positivity with high testing....Of the new infections reported today, 85 per cent were asymptomatic”.
“We are slowly but surely getting out of the woods. I salute our Team BMC and also the tremendous faith shown in our Team by our chief minister,” the Mumbai civic chief said.
According to the statistics released by the BMC, the positivity percentage dropped to 9.94 per cent on Thursday. The percentage dropped further on Friday.
The development came down on a day when the daily infections came down to 3871 as against the infections of 4338 cases reported by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday.
A cursory study of the Covid-19 infections reported in Mumbai reveals that while daily positive cases stood at 9242 with a positivity rate of 20.85 per cent April 1. The number of infections went up to 11,573 with a positivity rate of 21.82 per cent on April 3. The number of infections came down to 9316 with a positivity rate of 18.44 per cent on April 15.
The infections came down further to 4336 on April 25 with a positivity rate of 15.31 per cent on April 25.
With the number of tests having increased to 43,524 on Thursday, the number of infections came down to 4328. Consequently the positivity dropped to 9.94. After the authorities conducted 44,000-odd tests on Friday, the infections came down to 3887. As a result, the positivity dropped further from the earlier day’s figure of 9.94 per cent.
In a related development triggered by the increased discharges from the hospitals in Mumbai, the availability of Covid bed increased to 5725, as against the total bed capacity of 21,796 in 172 hospitals in the metropolis.
Friday’s was the first occasion when the positivity rate in Mumbai dropped to single digit, ever since the second wave of pandemic broke in the metropolis two months ago.
Earlier on December 5 2020 when Mumbai was still in the grip of first wave of pandemic, the Covid-19 test positivity had come down to 5 per cent in Mumbai for the first time since March-April last year.
It may be recalled that when the Covid-19 began to spread rapidly in Maharashtra during March-April last year, the positivity rate was as high as 35-36 percent.
According to the statistics released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Covid-19 positivity which stood at 6.69 per cent on November 25 when the metropolis recorded 1272 cases, came down to 5.03 per cent on Friday, a day when the Mumbai logged 825 fresh infections. The infections came down further to 758 in the metropolis on December 5.
In all 16,394 tests were conducted in the metropolis on December 4.
The 16,394 tests comprised 8,867 RT-PCR and 7,527 Rapid Antigen of which 684 and 141 respectively tested positive. In all 825 patients tested positive on December 4.