RT-PCR lab to start operations in Satara today: Health Minister
Facility will reduce Pune’s testing load, generate results faster, says Rajesh Tope
Expressing concern over the alarming spike in COVID19 cases in Satara and Kolhapur districts in western Maharashtra, State Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Sunday said a RTPCR (reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction) lab would be started in Satara from
Monday. Addressing reporters in Karad, Mr. Tope said the RTPCR lab would help reduce the load of testing Satara’s samples in Pune and generate results much
faster. “There is an urgent need to increase testing in both Satara and Kolhapur given the drastic surge in new cases. It takes two to three days for the sample results to come in to these two districts. This must change and all results must come within 24 hours of testing a potential case. Once the lab in Satara becomes operational, the pace of detection and sample testing results will quicken as well,” he said. Review meeting Earlier in the day, Mr. Tope, along with Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, took stock of the worsening COVID19 situation in Satara and Kolhapur at a review meeting, which was attended by Guardian Ministers, elected representatives and senior officials from the two districts. Mr. Tope said early identification of symptoms would help reduce the case fatality rate and directed officials and medical authorities to test at least 15 contacts of a positive case to break the chain of transmission. The Health Minister also warned private hospitals in the two districts of stern action if they refuse to treat suspected COVID19 patients. He said, “There have been numerous complaints from people in these districts of private hospitals not admitting people with COVID19 like symptoms or refusing to treat them. This is very wrong. The district administration has full authority to investigate such cases and book errant hospital staff.” Threat of strict action Mr. Tope said 45 hospitals in Kolhapur and 27 in Satara are covered under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana — the State government’s
flagship health insurance scheme — to provide free treatment to COVID19 patients. He said these hospitals will face strict action if they are found charging patients. Satara has been reporting an average surge of 200 cases a day for the past
three weeks. In contrast, throughout June, the average singleday rise was less than 60. The surge was lower in May, with the district reporting only 10 cases a day. The district now has over 2,700 active cases and has recorded more than 170 deaths. Kolhapur’s surge has been even more worrying: from an average 20 cases a day in the beginning of July, the district has since been reporting 500 new cases every day for the last fortnight. The district now has more than 5,600 active cases, while its death toll has gone past 250. The Health Minister also said the State government would soon be procuring 500 ambulances and allotting them to hospitals in the State’s rural areas. The Maha Vikas Aghadi government last month belatedly realised the dire scarcity of ambulances in the State’s rural hospitals and had released ₹90 crore to purchase them. 10-day lockdown in Beed Five important towns in Beed district in Marathwada, including Beed city, Parli and Ambejogai, have decided to observe a rigid 10day lockdown from August 12 in view of the rising cases in the district. During this period, only milk supply will be allowed and shops selling essentials will be permitted to remain open, according to district authorities.
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