Rajesh Tope expresses concern over highest COVID-19 positivity rate in Kolhapur district

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope expressed concern over the high positivity rate of COVID-19 cases in Kolhapur district after reviewing the situation there and Satara along with NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday.

He said Kolhapur's positivity rate was 35 percent.

"No other district in Maharashtra has that kind of rate. We will have to increase testing large-scale. We will have to trace people, and isolate co-morbid people by doing house to house survey," he said.

If need arises  a "jumbo COVID facility" can be built in Satara said Tope, adding that a new testing lab was being set up there to ensure results are received within 24 hours.

Ambulances were being requisitioned as there was a shortage, he said.

He said Satara and Kolhapur were witnessing spike in cases but expressed confidence that the outbreak would be contained in the two places.

"If you study this virus and its spread, it gets to a peak and then flattens. Currently, it is peaking so cases will rise in the next 10-15 days before starting to fall," Tope said. He further said that this was his "personal estimate" as he had seen the same pattern in Mumbai and Malegaon.