Maha health secretary Sanjay Khandare says no mass Covid testing in state now

Maharashtra health secretary Sanjay Khandare said that the state would be sending all Covid-19 positive samples to laboratories in Mumbai and Pune and based on Covid norms and added there were no plans to conduct mass testing now.

Khandare's statement came a day after the Union Health Ministry issued an advisory for states and union territories to track Covid variants through Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network. There has been an increase in Covid cases in China, Japan, Brazil and the US among other countries, ANI reported.

Currently, Maharashtra is having around 100 positive cases daily in the State so we will go for genome sequencing of all the positive samples," Maharashtra Health Secretary told ANI over the phone.

Based on the result of genome sequencing and the Union government's instructions, we will decide Maharashtra's Covid norms, he added. On starting random Covid testing at railway stations, Airports, etc, the State's health official said, We have no plans as of now. We are waiting for further instructions from the Union government on the issue.

Khandare stressed that vaccinating the State's population remains a priority. The vaccination drive in the state is continuing, and we will push the vaccination drive in the state, it is also our priority now, he said. Our health infrastructure is in place and we will activate all Covid-related medical setups if required, Sanjay said, adding that there are no plans for mass testing as of now.