Bhopal, Jan 2 (PTI) As coronavirus positive cases continue to show an upward trend, the Madhya Pradesh government has decided to start COVID-19 care centres in all districts, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Sunday.

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“Immediately start COVID Care Centres in all the 52 districts so that the patients with common symptoms can be admitted there if needed,” Chouhan told district, block, ward and panchayat level crisis management groups during a virtual meeting.

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He said the duration of contracts with private hospitals has been extended from January 1 to March 31, 2022, to ensure the treatment of the infected patients.

“If required, patients can be treated in private hospitals also. There will be free treatment in private hospitals under the Chief Minister's COVID Treatment Scheme,” the CM said.

Chouhan directed the state health department to conduct RT-PCR tests of people with symptoms of cough, cold and mild fever.

“If such symptoms are found, then get their RT-PCR test done immediately. We have to monitor that no one hides these symptoms. The situation deteriorated last time due to hiding of such symptoms,” he said.

Chouhan also directed officials to open fever clinics and conduct tests on people having symptoms like cough and cold.

Ensure that the contacts of the infected people are traced at the earliest, he told officials.

Chouhan informed that 11 cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in MP so far. All of them are healthy, he added.

Madhya Pradesh on Sunday reported 151 new COVID-19 cases, taking the overall tally to 7,94,240.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)