Coronavirus update: In Madhya Pradesh, Assam, chartered planes ferrying samples

In its third trip on Saturday, the Beechcraft carried 1,663 samples from Bhopal to Delhi, where they were taken to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

A Beechcraft B 200 aircraft, which was otherwise used as official transport by the chief minister and governor of Madhya Pradesh, has become a key element to the state’s fight against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), according to people familiar with the matter.

Earlier in the week, 1,200 samples were carried from Indore to the national capital. (Pratham Gokhale/HT Photo)

Starting this week, the six-seater plane -- operated by pilots wearing hazmat suits -- is being used to carry test samples between big cities in the state and New Delhi to enable Madhya Pradesh go beyond its own testing capacity of 1,200 a day for the Sars-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19.

“We realized that some coronavirus patients were dying in MP just after three-four days of hospital stay,’’ said Mohammed Suleiman, an IAS officer who last week took charge of the state health department. “We realized that they were coming too late. So we decided to step up testing and that’s why we need to send extra samples to ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) in Delhi.’’

In its third trip on Saturday, the Beechcraft carried 1,663 samples from Bhopal to Delhi, where they were taken to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). Earlier in the week, 1,200 samples were carried from Indore to the national capital.

”ICMR and NCDC have kindly agreed to test 1,400 samples of MP state daily,’’ said the commissioner of the health department, Nishant Warwade. “The strategy is to send samples of all suspects for testing so that no one remains untested.”

Madhya Pradesh is not the only state to take the aerial route to enhance its testing capacity. While it has its own state plane, Assam has been using chartered planes to ferry samples at a time when all commercial and private flights were suspended following the imposition on March 25 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of a 21-day national lockdown, which has not been extended till May 3.

The Assam government has also been hiring these planes at the cost of 70,000-90,000 rupees per hour to get supplies from the ICMR offices in Kolkata.

“We’ve been using a chartered plane since the beginning of the lockdown,’’ said Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. “We need to not just ferry samples for testing but also procure medical supplies from Kolkata, so we are using the plane on a daily basis.’’

While the exact number of samples that Assam has sent were not available, Sarma said they have been using it daily since the lockdown.

The chartered services is also sometimes being used to ferry medical personnel from one district to another, Sarma added.