Published 18:07 IST, June 17th 2020
Withdraw order banning private labs from sharing COVID+ve report with patient: BJP to BMC
BJP's Kirit Somaiya asked BMC to withdraw its circular prohibiting private laboratories on sharing the COVID-19 positive test report directly with the patient.
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BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Wednesday wrote to BMC Commissioner Iqbal Chahal demanding the withdrawal of a recent circular which prohibited private laboratories on sharing the COVID-19 positive test report directly with the patient. As per the circular dated June 13, the private laboratory must share the COVID-19 positive test report only with the BMC, which in turn will share it with the patient. However, in the scenario of a patient testing negative for the novel coronavirus, the report can be directly shared with him/her.
The circular adds that private hospitals shall be entitled to get suspect COVID-19 cases tested directly through laboratories. At the same time, the COVID-19 positive test reports shall be shared with the BMC instead of the private hospital. According to the former Lok Sabha MP, this new protocol could result in a delay in the COVID-19 patients receiving treatment. Moreover, he alleged that the logic for the new guidelines given in the circular is absurd.
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Mumbai witnesses a dip in COVID-19 cases
Mumbai reported less than 1000 COVID-19 cases in a day for the first time in June on Tuesday. With 941 persons testing positive for the novel coronavirus, Mumbai's COVID-19 tally surged to 60,142. At present, there are 25,937 active COVID-19 cases in the state. The number of recovered soared to 31,040 after 915 patients were discharged in the day. Meanwhile, 55 COVID-19 deaths were reported on Tuesday, propelling Mumbai's casualty toll to 3165. 34 of the aforesaid deceased had co-morbidities.
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2,64,580 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in various laboratories across Mumbai till June 15. The number of COVID-19 cases in the city grew at a rate of 2.49% from June 9-15. The novel coronavirus cases in RC, RN, RS wards grew at a rate of over 4%. Moreover, 3,64,095 senior citizens have been surveyed for SPO2 by visiting 21,20,088 houses. While there are 823 active containment zones currently, 4959 buildings have been sealed. As of now, 20,805 high-risk contacts are admitted to Corona Care Centres 1. On Tuesday, the Maharashtra government added 1328 additional fatalities including 862 deaths from Mumbai to the state's COVID-19 death toll after the reconciliation of novel coronavirus death figures.
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18:07 IST, June 17th 2020