To eliminate the delay in getting reports, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has decided to pay for tests conducted in private diagnostic chains which have been authorized by the government to test COVID-19 samples. The decision was taken in a high level meeting held at the main administrative building of the MBMC in the presence of municipal commissioner Chandrakant Dange and Mayor Jyotsna Hasnale on Saturday to chalk out the road map and take necessary steps towards containing the spread of the pandemic in the twin-city.
“Apart from creating confusion in context to treatment, the delay in getting results, added to the anxiety of suspected patients. The civic body has now decided to bear the expenses of tests conducted in private labs,” said Dange. Private lab charges are capped at Rs.4,500, while the test is free at government facilities. Hasnale announced allotting Rs. 20 lakh from her Mayor's Fund for the purpose. Notably, 63 out of the 189 swab tests reports were still awaited till Saturday. It was also decided to keep all vegetables markets closed till the midnight of April 14.
Meanwhile, two more people tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday. With the latest addition, the MBMC has so far registered 32 positive cases out of which two patients have recovered (tested negative) and two patients succumbed to the infection.
“Two men aged 20 and 37 years living in Pooja Nagar (Mira Road) and Shiv Sena Lane (Bhayandar) respectively tested positive," said MBMC chief Chandrakant Dange. While the number of active positive cases stands at 28, swab test reports of 64 people are still awaited. 63 people are currently admitted to isolation wards at hospitals in Bhayandar and Mumbai.
