Fadnavis asks Maharashtra CM to ensure ICMR guideline compliance in COVID-19 testing

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said that he has written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to ensure testing for coronavirus as per the guidelines issued by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

"I have written a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and have requested him to follow ICMR guidelines for testing COVID19 patients and their high-risk contacts in Mumbai," Fadnavis, the former chief minister of the state, said in a video message.

He alleged that the ICMR guidelines are not being followed in COVID-19 testing in the state.

"According to a BMC order, high-risk contacts of the positive patients are only being quarantined and are not being tested in case they are asymptomatic. This is a violation of the international standards and ICMR guidelines as we have seen worldwide that 44 per cent spread of the disease is due to asymptomatic infected persons," Fadnavis said.

"If the BMC is not testing asymptomatic high-risk contacts of a positive person, it is creating a lot more danger for others. By doing this, BMC may suppress the numbers of positive patients but that will not help reduce the diseases," he added.

Fadnavis said that he has brought the issue to CM Thackeray's notice.

Maharashtra is the worst-affected state with a total of 3,323 cases, of which 331 patients have recovered after treatment while 201 others have lost their lives.

( With inputs from ANI )

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