Amidst complaints of non-availability of ambulances within the State, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday reportedly sought a report from his department on the supply of ambulances within the State.
In a recorded message, Tope asserted that the Maharashtra government is getting to regulate the rates of personal ambulances. “We will make the ambulances available freed from cost for Coronavirus patients,” he was quoted as saying.
The minister reportedly said that the public will need to accept the Coronavirus till a vaccine is out there. “SMS social distancing, mask, and sanitizer is the key. We are soon arising with a notification to manage their prices,” Rajesh Tope was quoted as saying.
The State health minister also informed the general public that the doubling rate of Coronavirus cases within the state has gone up to 30 days. “Our death rate is 60 per million which is lesser than the speed of 400 to 600 deaths per million in developed countries," he was reportedly quoted as saying.
Thursday, Maharashtra reports its highest single-day spike with 4,841 fresh COVID19 cases, taking the State's tally to 1,47,741. The State also reported 192 deaths on Thursday, taking the overall count of casualties in Maharashtra to 6,931.

Maharashtra is India’s worst affected state and accounts for nearly one-third of India’s total of 4,73,105 positive cases as on Thursday. It also accounts for an enormous chunk of all deaths recorded within the country with a death rate of 4.69%.
Tope also stated that the govt has been conducting 25,000 tests in Mumbai and 20,000 tests within the rest of Maharashtra every day. "I hope the antigen tests, which give leads to one hour, would be a game-changer. The ICMR has given its nod for these tests which cost Rs 450,” he reportedly said. These tests are going to be used for frontline workers like doctors, nurses, doctors, and policemen.

Mumbai case count has crossed 70,000 marks with 1,350 fresh cases on Thursday, taking the tally to 70,878. The city’s toll has reached 4,062 with 98 new facilities, consistent with data released by the state health department.
A total of 3,661 people were declared recovered from the disease within the state on Thursday, leaving 63,342 active patients. an overall 77,453 patients are discharged from treatment facilities within the state till Thursday.
Earlier today, 11 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Mumbai’s slum colony of Dharavi. The tally of Asia’s largest slum has risen to 2,210. No fresh death was reported from the world, said a BMC official.