The government seems to be losing the momentum in the Covid management in the state because of inconsistent policy

Even as the Supreme Court lauded Mumbai for its management of limited oxygen supply and urged other cities to follow its example, Maharashtra seems to be losing its momentum in Covid-19 management in terms of testing and isolating suspected patients. A flip-flop in policy is said to be behind this slowing of tempo.

From just one test lab in March 2020, Maharashtra increased their number to 609 by April 21, helping the state to drastically improve the daily number of tests. A large number of asymptomatic cases, however, saw testing decline between November 2020 and February 2021. An average of 50,000 tests were conducted every day between November 2020 and February 2021. The state has conducted 28.9 million tests between March 9, 2020 and May 7, 2021, of which 17.27 per cent samples tested positive.

Health minister Rajesh Tope claims that the state has been conducting an average of 225,000 tests every day. “There is no shortage of kits and laboratories,” he says. The problem is the delay in results. In big cities like Mumbai, Thane and Pune, results are available in 30-40 hours. In other parts of the state, there is a wait of 48-72 hours. Tope says he has asked the laboratories to make all effort to make test results available in 24 hours. “As more and more people are opting for tests, the laboratories are feeling the pressure. We have asked them to collect only that many samples as they can test in time.”

Almost 25 per cent of the daily testing is being conducted in capital Mumbai where the daily average in April was 44,000. Leader of the opposition Devendra Fadnavis says the less number of testing is projecting a false picture. “There is no need to create paranoia but give a real picture,” he demanded in a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on April 30.