Maha govt will set up COVID-19 labs in all districts: CM

Aurangabad, Jul 12 () Expressing concern over rising number of COVID-19 cases, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said the government was planning to set up sample testing laboratories in all districts.

Thackeray has inaugurated a COVID RT-PCR laboratory in Jalna city in Marathwada via video conferencing from Mumbai.

RT-PCR or the real-time polymerase chain reaction test is the most commonly used one for Covid-19.

"When coronavirus transmission began, we had only two testing labs. That number has gone up to 110 now. The state is now planning to set up such testing facilities in every district," he said.

The CM said the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic should be fought with a positive mindset.

The state government has augmented various health facilities for people, and also ramped up tracing and testing, he said.

"....Some places have temporary facilities but the government is planning to make them permanent," the chief minister said.

Health and Jalna district guardian minister Rajesh Tope said results of samples will now be available quickly through the BSL-3 type new laboratory.

"The laboratory can also test HIV samples," he said, adding that plasma and antibody testing machines will also be made available soon.

Union Minister and local MP Raosaheb Danve said the state and Central governments are taking steps to curb the pandemic.

District collector Ravindra Binwade said the newly- inaugurated laboratory has been established with the expenditure of Rs 1.07 crore. "It has the capacity to test 500 swab samples," he added.

Maharashtra's COVID-19 cases spiked by 7,827 to 2,54,427 on Sunday while the number of fatalities mounted by 173 to 10,289, as per state Health department. AW/CORR NSK NSK