COVID-19 testing tripled in Nagpur amid rise in cases

Nagpur, Feb 26 (PTI):
Maharashtra minister Nitin Raut on Friday said coronavirus testing in Nagpur has tripled to over 10,000 tests per day, amid rise in infections.
Addressing the media after a review meeting with district officials, Raut said there are 1,769 oxygen beds, 684 ICU and 263 ventilator beds available for COVID-19 patients in the district.
Although the cases of coronavirus are increasing in Maharashtra, the administration has been able to control the situation in Nagpur, the district’s guardian minister said.
Coronavirus testing has tripled, as more than 10,000 swab samples are tested in the district in a day, he said.
Apart from this, stamping of people placed under home quarantine and recording data of patients visiting government hospitals are also underway,
he said. Nagpur had recorded 1,116 fresh cases of coronavirus and 13 more casualties.
The district’s COVID-19 tally now stands at 1,46,831, of which 4,314 patients have died of the infection.
The district administration in Maharashtra’s Latur has ordered private coaching centres and training institutes to get coronavirus testing of all its students done in five days, an official said. Latur district collector Prithviraj BP gave an order to this effect.
The collector urged such educational institutes in the district to follow the guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus. He asked them to get the coronavirus testing of every student done in the next five days, the official said.
Meanwhile, The authorities in Maharashtra’s Palghar have banned weekly markets and mass marriages across the district in view of the prevailing coronavirus situation in the state, an official said on Friday.
An order to this effect was issued by district collector Manik Gursal, he said.
“Weekly markets are a regular feature in Palghar and other rural parts of Maharashtra. However, in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases in the state, the collector ordered a ban on the weekly markets in the district from February 25 till further orders,” the official said. The collector also banned mass weddings in the district to avoid large gatherings, he added.