Chhattisgarh is performing better than many states when in terms of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, claimed Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday while addressing citizens through video conference.
He further appealed to the people to take lockdown seriously in order to avoid any further spread of the coronavirus.
"Despite Chhattisgarh performing better than many states, there is a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in the last few days in the state. This happened because people had not followed the precautionary measures during the lockdown," said Baghel.
The recovery rate of COVID patients in the state is better with a minimal causality rate, as per the Chief Minister.
"For now, we are testing more than 5,000 samples daily, but our target is to soon increase this number to 10,000," he added.
Eight regional and 22 district-level hospitals in the state have COVID treatment facility and as per Baghel all of them have "sufficient" stock of masks, PPE and necessary medicines. He directed the concerned officials to ensure availability of oximeter in the hospitals.
He also requested the people who are resisting the collection of COVID test samples to understand the "seriousness of the situation" and cooperate with the health workers.
Besides, Baghel extended his greetings for the upcoming festivals -- Eid-ul-Zuha and Rakshabandhan -- and urged people to celebrate at home with family.
( With inputs from ANI )