Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday launched his government's fortnight-long 'Kill Corona' campaign, which aims to screen every household in the state for the infection.
At the launch, Chouhan said that when he took over as the state chief minister in March, the basic amenities to fight the pandemic were in a dismal condition.
"The situation in Madhya Pradesh is now much better than before. I took oath at 9 pm of March 23 and went directly to Vallabh Bhavan (state secretariat), because I realised the seriousness of the disease and the dangers it posed," he said.
"No systems were in place to fight the pandemic and the state had only one lab with a testing capacity of 60 samples per day," he said.
Claiming that the system to fight COVID-19 has been strengthened from top to bottom, Chouhan said the state has 30 labs and testing capacity has increased to 9,000 samples per day. He said the coronavirus situation in Madhya Pradesh has improved significantly.
"Madhya Pradesh now stands at number 12 among the big states in terms of the number of COVID-19 cases and has a recovery rate of 77 per cent," he said, adding that the state was at fourth place earlier.
By July 15, the teams of health workers will cover every household in the state as part of the 'Kill Corona' initiative and if needed, the campaign will be extended further in bigger districts, he said.
The chief minister also claimed that the movement of people from Rajasthan's Dholpur district has led to a sudden spurt in COVID-19 cases in Morena.
"People entering Morena from the neighbouring state are now being screened," he said, urging people to follow necessary safety norms. (PTI)
Also read: Bharat Biotech aims to produce world's cheapest COVID-19 vaccine
