COVID-19: Maha govt plans to set up sample testing labs in all districts

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 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.

Maharashtra's COVID-19 cases spiked by 7,827 to 2,54,427 on Sunday.