Maharashtra govt to soon cap prices of face masks and sanitisers

Mumbai: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Tuesday said that soon notification will be issued by the State government for capping the prices of masks and sanitisers.

While addressing a press conference, Tope said, "We have reduced the cost of testing from Rs 2,200 to Rs 1,900. Initially, it was Rs 4,000. Soon we will be issuing notification for capping prices of masks and sanitisers. We have asked the Centre to put sanitisers and mask in the list of essential commodities."

"Now people should pay Rs 1,900 for visiting a lab. To pick up the swab there will be a different rate for that," he added.

The State Health Minister added that he conducted a meeting with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and they have expressed their concern over violence against the doctors.

"I had a meeting with IMA and office-bearers. They are concerned about the attacks on doctors and their safety and security. I had assured them of that. Also, we have given them insurance cover under the Centre's scheme. They wanted the same kind of help from the state. Hence, they have come up with a proposal that state should pay 50 per cent amount for insurance (State government) and they are ready to pay 50 per cent amount," said Tope.

"Today we had a meeting with the Prime Minister along with the Chief Minister. It was a three-hour-long meeting. We expressed the desire to have specialised hospitals in the state to tackle COVID-19," he said.

"Also, we told the Prime Minister that in such a situation we should not conduct the exam and give aggregate marks to students based on their last exam performance," he added.

Maharashtra's positivity rate stands at 19 per cent, the Health Minister stated.

"Our positivity rate is 19 per cent which we need to bring down to 9-10 per cent. We have been given a target to get the death rate to 1 per cent. Right now our death rate is 3.42 per cent. The state government is working on this. We are still focusing on the early detection system," said Tope.

"The Centre will take a call about train services. We have informed them to start the train. Till the time local trains service resume, no private or government offices can work at 100 per cent," he added.