PUNE: Daily testing for Covid-19 during the Diwali period from November 13 to 16 dropped 43% in Pune and by nearly 50% in Mumbai. The sharpest drops were recorded on November 14, 15 and 16.
The fall in testing in these two major cities impacted the state’s daily testing levels too during this period, which plunged by nearly 70%.
Public health experts, who had urged officials to keep up the testing during the festival period, have now said the two weeks after Diwali will be an “acid test” for Maharashtra.
The new data was arrived at by comparing the average daily testing between November 1-13 with the average from November 14 to 17.
Daily testing has been dropping steadily. In September, Pune city was averaging 13,000 daily tests, which dropped to nearly 8,000 earlier this month. But on November 15, it hit a worrying low of 2,898.
In Mumbai, daily testing went from nearly 13,000 in early November to less than 4,000 on November 15.
State’s director of health services Archana Patil said she has asked officials in Pune, Mumbai and Thane, where cases are still high, to increase testing after the festival.