Increased testing, infrastructure to tackle coronavirus: Gehlot to Modi

Jaipur, November 24

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that his government has increased testing and strengthened infrastructure to tackle coronavirus.

Highlighting the steps taken by his government to contain the infection, the chief minister told the PM about the ban on firecrackers, law on wearing of masks, night curfew in worst-hit districts and the restrictions on gatherings, according to an official statement.

In the virtual meeting, he also shared inputs about the strengthening of infrastructure like oxygen generation plants, increase in the number of ICUs and oxygen beds in hospitals, the statement added.

Gehlot said the state government is testing over 30,000 samples a day, which stood at 18,000 tests a day in the months of September and October.

He said Rajasthan is ahead in all parameters and the death rate has remained consistently below one per cent.

The present death rate in the state is only 0.89 per cent, he said, adding that a detailed analysis of the causes of deaths have been undertaken since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Gehlot told Modi that the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing is the most reliable instead of the rapid antigen tests. 

Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu are the only two states in the country where the coronavirus investigation is being done through the RT-PCR method, he said.

He said about 42 lakh tests have been conducted using the technique in Rajasthan. The positivity rate is 5.8 per cent in the state, which is much better than the national average of 6.89 per cent, he said, adding that his government is working to bring it below 5 per cent. PTI