As the threat of COVID-19 Omicron variant looms, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope has said that the state government will make all possible efforts to bring down the RT-PCR test rates at the Mumbai Airport from over Rs 5,000 to Rs 2,000.
Tope has convened a meeting on the issue on Wednesday evening.
The state government is stepping up tracking, tracing, testing and vaccination. The mortality rate is low, but people have to follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour, he said, in wake of the Omicron threat.
He also said that he will make a fresh appeal for reduction in the gap between two doses of COVID-19 vaccines and the administration of booster dose at the video conference called by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandviya on Thursday.
Tope claimed that Maharashtra has the potential to administer 20 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses per day. So far, the state has administered more than 12 crore doses, he said.
Meanwhile, concerns over the Omicron Variant abounded at the Maharashtra Cabinet chaired by CM Uddhav Thackeray. The CM directed the administration to complete the COVID-19 vaccination of eligible persons on war-footing.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra recorded 669 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday but no new infection of the Omicron variant came to light, the state health department said yesterday.
The state also reported 19 deaths related to COVID-19 and the case fatality rate stood at 2.12 per cent. The tally of infections rose to 66,39,995 and death toll reached 1,41,194.
On Monday, Maharashtra had reported five COVID-19 fatalities, lowest in a single day after May last year, and 517 new cases.
(With agency inputs)
