Rajasthan records recovery rate of 82.16%; drops price of Covid-19 testing kits

The government of Rajasthan, on Tuesday, convened a high-level meeting to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the state. The state administration invited health experts from across the country and presented the situation of the epidemic in the state to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

The officials presented feedback of the coronavirus spread in the state. They maintained that the state has a recovery rate of 82.16 per cent, which is higher than the national average of 78.27 per cent, as per the official release.

The positive cases among the 26.72 lakh tests held in the state were 3.93 per cent, which was less than half of the national average of 8.45 per cent, as of Tuesday.

The mortality rate at 1.2 per cent was also below the national average of 1.64 per cent.

The government further claimed that the testing facility has reached 50,000 per day and that the state administration has provided free ration for 5.5 crore people till November 2020.

The administration added that Covid-19 test now costs only ₹1,200 in Rajasthan after the government’s capping the price. The state government had previously capped the price for testing at private labs at ₹2,200.

Health Minister Raghu Sharma said: “The government has dropped the price of RT-PCR testing kit, reagents, and VTM kit, among others, to provide affordable testing facilities to the public. The decided price is including GST.”

Speaking on the convention, Naresh Trehan, President & MD, Medanta, Gurgaon, said: “We have learned a lot while treating the first group of Italian tourists coming in from Rajasthan. The state’s Bhilwara Model has shown the way to contain the virus and it is now high time that the public stays alert and follows all the protocols issued by the authorities.”