Coronavirus scare: Maharashtra to get 3 more testing labs, one in Pune & 2 in Mumbai

PUNE: State health minister Rajesh Tope on Sunday said three more testing laboratories for coronavirus will start within a fortnight to ease the load on National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune and Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Mumbai.
Covid-19 cases in the state have gone up to 34 on Sunday after a 59-year-old woman tested positive in Aurangabad and two men in Pimpri Chinchwad.
Tope wrote to the Centre requesting that Pune-based BJ Medical College, Mumbai-based JJ Hospital and Haffkine Institute in Mumbai be allowed to help with the testing of samples.
“The National Institute of Virology and Kasturba Hospital are managing efficiently but we wanted to rope in more private laboratories for the testing process as there is a huge load on the approved testing centres. With coronavirus cases increasing, we will need more laboratories for testing. Private laboratories are not being allowed to test as per Centre’s directions. So, we have written for permission to allow these three institutions for the testing process,” the health minister told TOI on Sunday. He said they are waiting for the approval.
As of now, NIV gets 40-50 samples every day. “We have got a request from the state government for more laboratories,” Raman Gangakhedkar, head of the epidemiology and communicable disease-1 division of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) told TOI.
“We may have an NIV unit functioning in Mumbai at Haffkine, one at KEM Hospital and one in Aurangabad where we have to get Reverse-Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction machines. We should be able to start soon,'' he added.
Health authorities have said all incoming travellers, including Indians, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany after February 15 shall be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days.
The state has requested the Centre to include Dubai, the US, Thailand and Russia after people coming to the state from these countries tested positive.
Maharashtra is the worst hit in the country and all precautions are being taken by the administration, Tope said. He has directed the administration to increase the isolation wards as per the requirement.
The state government has already issued orders through the respective collectors to ensure closure of schools, colleges, theatres, drama halls, swimming pools, gyms, anganwadis, technical institutions, malls.
On Sunday, Tope said all museums too would be closed till March 31. “The only way is to ensure that there is no gathering at any of these places. The Epidemic Act is in place and we will ensure that those violating it are penalised,” he said.