Following the new Covid-19 variant scare – Omicron, the Maharashtra state government on Tuesday reduced the charge of rapid RT-PCR testing to Rs. 1975 from the present rate of Rs 4,500 and a GR was issued for the same. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Mumbai Airport ( CSMIA) on Wednesday said that it has cut down charges for the rapid RT-PCR test.
This came after the Maharashtra government slashed the price of the RT-PCR test. “The lowering of the rapid RT-PCR test charges to Rs 1,975 is in line with the latest directive from the Government of Maharashtra,” CSMIA said in a statement.
The standard RT-PCR test will continue to cost Rs 500, it added. The rapid RT-PCR charges at the Adani Group-owned Mumbai airport earlier stood at Rs 3,900, reduced from Rs 4,500, after the state government wrote to the additional health secretary in the Union health ministry seeking its intervention.
The state government had said that though the operator has agreed to bring down the charges for the rapid RT-PCR test, they were still “very high” compared to the rates being charged by other airports such as Bengaluru, Chennai and Kochi.
Schools in Mumbai and Pune are scheduled to reopen for students of classes 1 to 7 this week, officials said on Tuesday. In Mumbai, the offline classes will commence on Wednesday, while they will start on Thursday in Pune city.
Maharashtra schools reopen In both the cities, schools were shut for over 20 months due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent imposition of restrictions. Earlier, the schools for students of primary and middle sections were supposed to reopen in the first week of December (on Dec 1 in Pune and on Dec 4 in Mumbai), but the decision was postponed due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
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For Mumbai, an order to reopen the schools was issued by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal. Meanwhile, the same was ordered for Pune by Vikram Kumar, commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
According to the order, the schools have been asked to follow all COVID-19 protocols, while RT-PCR test has been made mandatory for teachers and non-teaching staff who are not fully vaccinated yet. The PMC has asked school managements to complete vaccination of their staff.
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