COVID-19: Mumbai's test positivity rate down to 10 per cent

While the number of tests per day remains the same as the first half of the month, the city's Test Positivity Rate (TPR) has dropped down to 10.3 per cent for the first time. Although it may be due to the high number — nearly 50 per cent — of antigen tests which have a low positivity rate, the TPR for RT-PCR tests has also reduced to below 20 per cent.

The city has been struggling to achieve enough number of tests from the beginning. The TPR, which is the number of positive cases per 100 tests, was above 20 per cent till June. The World Health Organisation's (WHO) recommended level is below five per cent and the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) is below 10 per cent. Mumbai has reached ICMR's level after seven months of the pandemic. In the past 10 days, out of 1,31,301 tests, 13,539 were positive. The first half of the month saw 1,95,668 tests with 31,053 positive results.

Daily tests

While the average number of daily tests in October is around 13,000, the number of positive cases dropped sharply in the second quarter. One reason for it could be the increase in antigen tests in the past 10 days. Out of the 1.31 lakh tests, 58,600 are antigen tests, which has an average of 5 per cent for positive results. In the first half of October, the share of antigen tests was 40 per cent.

On the other hand, the TPR of RT-PCR tests dropped from above 25 per cent in previous months to below 20 per cent in the past 10 days.
"The overall number of cases is reducing, but people have to be careful as there are chances of cases increasing amid the festive season," said a BMC official.

13K
No. of tests per day in the past 10 days

1.31 lakh
No. of tests in the past 10 days

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