In its efforts to ramp up coronavirus testing in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched the city’s first mobile COVID-19 testing bus that will be used for mass screening of people.
The ‘CovidBus’ is designed for mass screening by using a combination of fever, O2 saturation & AI-based Xrays’s for detecting coronavirus.
Chief Minister /tag/Uddhav Thackeray/tag/Uddhav-Thackeray, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope, and Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai Praveen Pardeshi inaugurated the bus on Friday.
Additionally, the bus is equipped with RT-PCR swab collection facility. The government has made it mandatory to only use the RT-PCR test for the detection of the virus.
BMC has said that the COVIDBus will be visiting various slum locations & effectively isolate the high-risk suspects.
Notably, Mumbai is India’s worst-affected city by coronavirus despite the state government taking all necessary measures to bring the pandemic in control.
Till 1 PM on Friday, Maharashtra has reported 10,498 cases, highest in the country, according to data from the Union Health Ministry. While 1,773 people have been cured, 459 succumbed to the virus.