Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has directed private laboratories and hospitals to reduce the rate of RT-PCR test to detect coronavirus disease (Covid-19) to ₹350, which he said will be the lowest in the country. Gehlot, during a meeting to review the status of coronavirus disease in the state on Saturday evening, also directed officials to make a route chart and map for oxygen supply in all the districts of the state, so that medical oxygen supply can be ensured at all places.
Gehlot said that the health department and district administration should mobilise more resources for the management of coronavirus disease in every district and ensure there is no shortage at any level. “The way the number of patients and dead is increasing in the country and the state, the situation is worrisome. Even today, 9046 Covid cases have been reported in the state and 37 people have died,” he tweeted after the nearly four-hour meeting on Saturday.
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The senior Congress leader also directed officials of the health department to take strict action against the labs and personnel delaying the report of RT-PCR tests. He said that such negligence in the time of pandemic not only increases the infection but also can prove fatal.
The chief minister also discussed in detail the availability of Remdesivir injection and medical oxygen for Covid-19 patients in various districts along with medical experts and officials. He suggested a special protocol should in place to ensure logical and needful use of these life-saving drugs. He said that doctors of district hospitals and other hospitals can discuss with experts from various medical colleges, including SMS Hospital, in this regard so that no necessary resources go waste.
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Gehlot instructed Covid Care Centre and institutional quarantine facilities should be to established at district hospitals and medical colleges to reduce the pressure of asymptomatic and less severe Covid-19 patients. He said that food for patients at these centres will be arranged through the Indira Rasoi Yojana, a kitchen scheme named after former prime minister Indira Gandhi. If needed, packets of food from Indira Rasoi will be distributed at these centres.
Rajasthan recorded its biggest single-day spike of 9046 fresh Covid-19 cases on Saturday, pushing its tally to 404,355 and the death toll mounted to 3,109 with 37 more fatalities, an official report said. Rajasthan now has 59,999 active cases of the coronavirus disease. A maximum of 1484 new cases were reported in Jaipur, followed by 1265 in Jodhpur, 1049 in Kota, 783 in Udaipur, 591 in Alwar, 407 in Bhilwara.
Meanwhile, the weekend curfew was in place on Sunday as shops and offices, except essential services, remained closed. The curfew will continue in the state till 5am on Monday.
