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.
Wrote to BMC to withdraw 13 June circular, prohibiting Private Laboratory to give Corona Positive Report directly to the Persons/Family but to submit to BMC only LOGIC? Negative reports be given to the Persons! The person who required urgent information/Treatment is asked to wait pic.twitter.com/YcTdZni1VT
— Kirit Somaiya (@KiritSomaiya) June 17, 2020
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.
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.
18:07 IST, June 17th 2020