COVID-19 patients in 18 of the state’s 36 districts with high positivity scores will no longer be allowed home isolation and will be transferred to COVID Care Centers, according to Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Tuesday (May 25). Patients with COVID-19 that are asymptomatic or have minor signs are usually advised to stay at home.
According to health department numbers, the districts of Satara, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Osmanabad, Beed, Raigad, Pune, Hingoli, Akola, Amravati, Kolhapur, Thane, Sangli, Gadchiroli, Wardha, Nashik, Ahmednagar, and Latur have higher than average positivity rates.
The state now has 3,27,000 registered COVID-19 cases, with a 93 percent recovery rate. According to Tope, the case positivity figure, or the percentage of positive cases in checked samples, is about 12%, whereas the case fatality rate is 1.5%. However, he claims that the positivity rate in 18 districts is higher than the state average.
The government has agreed to end home isolation entirely in these 18 districts, Tope told reporters. District collectors have been instructed to provide additional COVID Care Centers (CCCs) and accept all active patients there.
He also mentioned that the collectors have been instructed to use funds from the premium received on minor mineral auctions to create CCCs in villages.
“Testing has to be done in a focused manner. Once a person tests positive for coronavirus, all high- and low-risk persons (who may have come in contact with the patient) should be tested. The collectors of the 18 districts (with high positivity rate) have been instructed to avoid random testing in large numbers to artificially bring down the positivity rate,” the health minister said.
He also advised that all district collectors have been guided to complete fire safety audits of hospitals in their districts.
Tope said that Asha (Accredited Social Health Activist) staff will be qualified to administer Rapid Antigen Tests and use self-testing kits, and that they will be asked to persuade villagers to get tested as well as spread vaccine awareness.
