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Increase contact tracing in Ambernath, Badlapur: Maharashtra health minister
Five new Covid-19 testing labs will be set up in Thane district in the next 10 days, state health minister Rajesh Tope said on Thursday during a review meeting of
Five new Covid-19 testing labs will be set up in Thane district in the next 10 days, state health minister Rajesh Tope said on Thursday during a review meeting of the Covid-19 outbreak in Ambernath, Badlapur and Bhiwandi cities. Expressing his dissatisfaction over the contact tracing in Ambernath and Badlapur, Tope pointed out that 1,500 new cases are being added to the district’s numbers every day.
A two-hour-long meeting was held at the Kulgaon Badlapur Municipal Council, with health department officials, medical association members and elected representatives.
“In the coming 10 days total five testing labs will be set up to cater to places like Badlapur, Ulhasnagar- Ambernath, Bhiwandi, Mira Bhayader and rural parts of Thane district. This will speed up the testing and these cities will not have to depend on Mumbai testing labs,” said Tope.
“In Ambernath and Badlapur, contact tracing of Covid patients is not satisfactory. The authorities are tracing with the ratio of 1:6 (six contacts per one patient) which should increase to 1:15. I have asked them to follow up on this and isolate at least 15 contacts for one infected person so that there is a better chance of breaking the chain,” he said.r
The health minister pressed for the need to increase the number of ventilators and oxygen beds in these cities, and directed the civic bodies to take help from the doctors of Indian Medical Association (IMA). A 50-bed intensive care unit will be set up at Harne Ayurvedic college in Badlapur soon, he informed. Tope asked officials to prepare a dashboard for the entire district to check the availability of beds.
He also urged the local civic bodies to admit patients on first-come-first basis, instead of sending them back to their residential city. Patients should Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) should get treatment anywhere in the area, he said.
