COVID-19: Mumbai corpn to test people at public places without consent

Amid rising corona positive cases in Maharashtra, the Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation on Saturday (March 20) decided to test people randomly at crowded places without seeking their consent.

The municipal health employees would randomly conduct Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) at bus stops, markets, malls, railway stations, government offices etc.

Refusing to test is not an option as it would amount to an offence under the Epidemic Act, 1897, an order issued by the municipal corporation stated.

Rapid antigen test, as against RT-PCR, is considered less trustworthy, but is a quick way to detect the presence of viral proteins – antigens, the attributes of the virus. It has been observed that RAT gives more false negatives.

Also read: Uddhav hints at lockdown as Maharashtra gets new curbs due to COVID surge

The locations where RAT will be carried out randomly are:

Railway stations: About 1,000 tests will be conducted every day at Andheri, Borivali, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Mumbai Central, Dadar Western and Central, Bandra Terminal and Kurla.

Bus depots: Parel, Mumbai Central, Borivali and Kurla.

About 400 paid tests will be conducted every day at different malls. At other places, the testing will be done for free.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray warned people of another lockdown if they continue to flout social distancing norms like not wearing mask.

Experts suspect several strains of mutated virus are active all over the statem which has resulted in a sudden rise in positive cases.

Also read: WHO finds no blood clot link to AstraZeneca vaccine

A rising trajectory of daily new cases is visible in eight states. These are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana.

Kerala is showing a consistently declining trend.

India’s total Active Caseload has reached 2,88,394 on Saturday (March 20), comprising 2.50% of the total positive cases. A net incline of 17,112 cases recorded from the total active caseload in the last 24 hours.

Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab cumulatively account for 76.22% of India’s total active caseload.

Five states account for 81.38%of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (70). Punjab follows with 38 daily deaths and Kerala reported17 deaths in the last 24 hours.