Maharashtra: 114 deaths, govt fixes new rates for tests

Health Minister Rajesh Tope, meanwhile, asked hospitals to strictly follow the admission protocol and not admit asymptomatic patients in order to keep intensive care beds free for critical patients. Mumbai is reeling under a shortage of ICUs – of the 1,197 under its disposal, only 37 were available as on Tuesday night.

“Asymptomatic patients walk in and private hospitals admit them. This is an injustice for serious and critically ill patients who don’t get beds. We have appointed our officers in each hospital. Desks will be set up to ensure only patients in need get admitted,” Tope said, adding that private hospitals cannot give direct admissions to Covid-19 patients who have no or mild symptoms.

A new rate slab has also been fixed for Covid-19 testing in private laboratories. For hospitals collecting and sending swabs to laboratories for testing, Rs 2,200 will be charged per test; for patients visiting labs to get tested will be charged Rs 2,500 and laboratories sending technicians for home collection of swab will charge Rs 2,800 per test.

Tope said each ward in Mumbai will have five to 10 ambulances and requested residents not to pay hefty price for private services. The government ambulances will be coordinated by BMC helpline 1916 and ward-level officials. “We have 500 ambulances available in Mumbai… 150 more will be made available,” Tope said.

Of the 114 deaths reported in the state on Wednesday, 77 died in Mumbai, to be followed by 18 in Pune Municipal Corporation areas, seven in Jalgaon, three in Pune, two each in Nandurbar, Malegaon and Latur, and one each in Mira-Bhayandar, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Yavatmal.

Of the 114 deceased, 88 were men and 26 women. As many as 76 of them were over 60 years old, 30 were in the age group 40 to 59 and eight were aged less than 40. In all,, 84 patients (73.7 per cent) had high-risk comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

The recovery rate in the state now stands at 50.68 per cent while the fatality rate is at 4.84 per cent.