NMMC achieves 1:20 contact tracing ratio; Covid-19 testing lab to open soon

NAVI MUMBAI: The

Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation

(NMMC), which had a poor

contact tracing

ratio of 1:10, managed to step it up to 1:20 in less than a month.

Civic officials said a mass screening campaign in 42 hotspots and areas where more positive cases were reported, helped improve the ratio. Meanwhile, a dedicated Covid-19 testing lab will begin operations at the Nerul civic hospital in a couple of days.

NMMC had faced flak for not doing enough testing, tracking and tracing fronts.

“As per government guidelines, 1:20 is the benchmark of contact tracing and we have matched it. Our officers have been told to go all out to increase the number through extensive surveys,” said NMMC commissioner Abhijit Bangar.

The

ICMR Mumbai unit

will approve the new lab’s functioning after it tests samples sent by ICMR, and the results are confirmed. Bangar said the initial target would be to test 500 samples a day, which could be stretched to 1,000.