Amaravati: Covid testing capacity to be doubled to 4k

Amaravati: The state government will double the Covid-19 testing capacity to 4,000 tests per day.

This was revealed during a review meeting held here by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at his camp office on Wednesday.

As of now, more than 2,100 tests are being done a day and that would be scaled up to 4,000 using TrueNat TB testing equipment, the Chief Minister was told.

He instructed the officials to conduct tests on around 32,000 members who have been identified in the family survey.

The rapid testing should start by taking every mandal as a unit, he said. The Chief Minister sought details on the facilities being provided at quarantine centres and ordered the officials to provide Rs 2,000 financial assistance to the poor who were returning home from quarantine centres besides performing weekly tests.

The officials said that Rs 500 was being spent on every person for their food, bed and blanket, Rs 50 for sanitation purpose, and Rs 300 on transportation daily.

The Chief Minister instructed the officials to forward the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to the lower-rung authorities and ensure that the medical safety equipment was being supplied to frontline workers and emergency staff.

Priority should be given to banana and watermelon marketing and monitoring edible oil prices, he added.