Centre tells Maharashtra to ramp up testing amid second Covid-19 wave

The central team has also suggested that at least 20 to 30 close contact – family members, friends, colleagues – need to be tracked for every positive case

Maharashtra is beginning to see a second wave of the pandemic and limited efforts have been made to actively track, test, isolate cases and quarantine contacts, said the central team sent to study the Covid-19 situation in the state. The team has suggested that at least 20 to 30 close contact – family members, friends, colleagues – need to be tracked for every positive case.

A medic takes a swab sample for Covid-19 testing, at Turbhe Railway Station in Navi Mumbai on March 15. (PTI)

“There is no adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour among people both in rural and urban areas. The central team inferred that the administrative mechanism should be reinstated to the level witnessed in August-September 2020 to contain or suppress the Covid transmission,” the team said in its report, a copy of which HT has seen.

In a letter to the state, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan has said the high case fatality ratio – the proportion of deaths among total positive cases– among those admitted at Nashik’s Vasant Rao Pawar Medical College needs to be investigated and that their samples be sent for genome sequencing.

Earlier researchers from Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia found the E484K mutations in less than 10% of samples from the state. The mutation helps the Sars-CoV-2 virus in dodging the body’s immune response.

The letter also said night curfews and weekend lockdowns have a limited impact on transmission. “Containment strategy needs to be reintroduced; containment zones must be better defined based on contact listing, digital mapping of cases and contacts...”

The state has also been asked to ramp up testing, especially the more accurate RT PCR.

There was no immediate response from the state government.