Maharashtra govt testing fewer samples to keep Covid-19 numbers low, alleges Fadnavis

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope, however, on Saturday said that the state government has reduced the rates of Covid-19 tests conducted by private laboratories from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,200.

Former Maharashtra chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took a swipe at the Shiv Sena-led coalition government in the state and alleged that Maharashtra had the capacity to test 38,000 samples per day for coronavirus, but only 14,000 tests were being carried out so that the government could project lower statistics by testing fewer samples.

The government is trying to keep the number of Covid-19 positive cases low by testing lesser number of samples, the former Maharashtra chief minister said. (ANI PHOTO.)

“Maharashtra has the capacity to test 38,000 samples per day for Covid-19, but only 14,000 tests are being conducted. Mumbai has the capacity to test 12,000 samples per day but only about 4,000 tests are happening,” Fadnavis alleged.

“The government is trying to keep the number of Covid-19 positive cases low by testing lesser number of samples,” the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope, however, on Saturday said that the state government has reduced the rates of Covid-19 tests conducted by private laboratories from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,200.

The health minister said the lowering of rates for the crucial tests would provide some relief to the common people. “Rs 2,200 will be charged for collecting the swabs through viral transport media (VTM) from hospitals, while it would cost Rs 2,800 for collection of swabs from home. Earlier, the charges were Rs 4,500 and Rs 5,200 respectively,” he said.

The revised rates are the maximum these labs can charge. District collectors too, can negotiate with private labs to reduce the rates further, Tope said.

“If the private labs charge more than the prescribed upper limit, legal action would be taken against them,” he said, claiming that the new rates will be the lowest in the country.

At present, there are 91 labs in Maharashtra for Covid-19 testing and about four to five are also in the offing.

Maharashtra, which is the worst-hit state by the coronavirus pandemic, crossed the one lakh-mark on Friday with 3,717 new cases and 127 deaths. On Saturday, the state recorded 3,427 new Covid-19 cases, taking the total tally to 1,04,568. The death toll too rose to 3,830 with 113 deaths reported in the last 24 hours.

Mumbai reported 69 deaths in the last 24 hours and at least 1,380 new Covid-19 cases.

The city’s total count of coronavirus positive cases now stand at 56,831 and the death toll is 2,113.