Day after transfer of BMC chief, signs of change in Covid strategy in Maharashtra

Maharashtra Prime Minister Uddhav Thackeray transferred the high-profile bureaucrat on Friday night as additional chief secretary to the Urban Development department.

THE DAY after the government led by Uddhav Thackeray removed Praveen Pardeshi from the civic commissioner’s post, his successor, Iqbal Singh Chahal, indicated that he was reviewing the city’s Covid-19 test protocol and that it would be modified.

Chahal also ordered a review of the demarcation of the containment areas.

At the epicenter of the pandemic in India, Mumbai, which has so far reported 12,864 cases and 489 deaths, differed from the guidelines of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and decided to only selectively test high-risk asymptomatic individuals who may have been exposed to the coronavirus after coming into contact with a positive patient. ICMR guidelines recommend testing all asymptomatic high-risk contacts, such as family members and caregivers, between the fifth and 14th day of suspected exposure.

While he did not elaborate on the new test protocol, Chahal told civic officials that once they announced it, it will not change. The civic corps had previously invited some criticism about flip flops regarding the testing protocol, as well as procedures for reporting deaths caused by Covid-19.

On April 12, it issued guidelines to suspend testing for asymptomatic individuals entirely, except for pregnant women, the elderly, kidney and cancer patients. But within a week, it issued another set of guidelines to include more categories, stating that it would assess only “symptomatic people (who suffer from cough, cold, fever, dyspnea), pregnant women, dialysis patients, chemotherapy patients, health, senior citizens, high-risk symptomatic contacts and some high-risk asymptomatic contacts. ” The civic corps argued that the testing protocol was modified for better utilization of manpower and resources.

Mumbai’s new additional municipal commissioner, Ashwini Bhide, said the civic body’s focus will be on more effective management within the containment zones. “A detailed review was conducted with all assistant commissioners and zonal deputy municipal commissioners to increase follow-up of high-risk contacts, move all those contacts from slums to institutional quarantine, expand quarantine facilities, streamline containment areas, and ensure 100 percent – surveillance within containment zones, ”he said.

Amid the pandemic, Thackeray on Friday night surprised many by moving Pardeshi as Additional Chief Secretary to the Department of Urban Development-I, a position previously held by Chahal.

The move came a day after a core team, under Joint Secretary (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) Lav Agarwal, rebuked the state government for the increasing number of active cases within the containment areas in Mumbai and the lack of of compliance with the directives of the Center. regarding contact tracking and door-to-door surveillance.

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