If residents with symptoms need to be tested, the bike ambulances can reach them easily and the antigen tests will be able to determine the results within half an hour, the TMC commissioner said
A bike ambulance. Pic/Sameer Markande
Amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the city, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has decided to increase its testing capacity by reaching out to the citizens. In order to take COVID-19 antigen testing to people's doorstep, the civic body has incorporated 17 bike ambulances in its mission.
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Speaking to Hindustan Times, TMC Commissioner Dr. Vipin Sharma said, "The testing will be mostly conducted in huge housing complexes and market areas. If residents with symptoms need to be tested, the bike ambulances can reach them easily and the antigen tests will be able to determine the results within half an hour. This will help in providing timely treatment for patients."
It must be noted that the bike ambulance service was introduced in January 2019 in Thane city. The service was launched to facilitate easy travel through traffic-prone areas of the city in order to provide medical assistance within the golden hour in case of accidents.
In a relief, COVID-19 deaths and new cases plummeted in Maharashtra after remaining in the higher ranges for the past week, officials said on Monday.
At 11,852 new cases, the state recorded its lowest tally in a week, and over 5,000 lower from the peak of 16,867 on August 29. The new cases took the total to 792,541, and with 184 more fatalities, the death toll went up to 24,583 - both highest in the country.
There was one death roughly every 8 minutes and a 494 new cases added every hour, with the load of deaths and cases gradually shifting to non-metro areas.
The state recovery rate increased from 72.04 per cent to 72.37 per cent, while the mortality rate stood at 3.01 per cent.
A total of 11,158 fully-recovered patients returned home, taking the total number of discharged patients to 573,559 till date - against the 194,056 active cases.
Of Monday's fatalities, Mumbai and Thane recorded 32 deaths each. Thane district has 132,640 cases and a death toll of 3,809.
(With inputs from agencies)
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