West Bengal govt needs to increase COVID-19 tests to 2500-5000 per day: IMCT
Chandra in his letter has also urged the State government to increase the number of ventilator beds at Bangur hospital as there are only 12 ventilator beds for its 354 critical coronavirus patients.
New Delhi: After visiting Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI) and Bangur hospital in Kolkata, the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) on Friday recommended West Bengal government to increase COVID-19 tests to 2500-5000 per day.
In a letter to West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, Apurva Chandra, Additional Secretary, Government of India and head of IMCT, said: “The State government needs to submit a report on the reason for the long waiting time of COVID test results. For some patients, the wait time is more than five days. Besides, the government needs to increase COVID-19 tests to 2500-5000 per day.”
The IMCT had visited CNCI and Bangur hospital to take stock of the situation amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) writes to the West Bengal Chief Secretary to explain methodology used by ‘Committee of Doctors’ in West Bengal to ascertain death due to #COVID19 and also if it is in line with ICMR guidelines. pic.twitter.com/JFdsJN6t0W
— ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2020
During the visit, the team found that no social distancing was being followed at Bangur hospital’s waiting area and the COVID patients, referred from other private hospitals, are left to visit the COVID-19 dedicated hospitals on their own.
Chandra in his letter has also urged the State government to increase the number of ventilator beds at Bangur hospital as there are only 12 ventilator beds for its 354 critical coronavirus patients.
The Union Home Ministry has constituted IMCTs to visit coronavirus hotspots for assessment, issue directions to combat the spread of the lethal virus in those areas and submit a report to the Central government. (ANI)