Raipur, Apr 10 (IANS): Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has said the state government will start the RT-PCR testing at airports and railway stations in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases.

"Necessary steps are being taken for expansion of Covid screening, treatment and vaccination facilities," Baghel said here on Friday during a meeting.

He had held a virtual meeting with the editors of various media houses on Friday and sought suggestions regarding prevention of Covid-19, and economic activities to be conducted.

Baghel said he has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set the minimum age of vaccination to 18 years.

The chief minister said an initiative will soon be taken to fix the rates of Covid-19 test, and treatment of corona positive patients in private hospitals.

In Chhattisgarh, 1,435 tests per 10 lakh population are being done every day, while the national average for the same is 929 tests per 10 lakh population per day, it was said during the meeting.

The percentage of RT-PCR tests in the month of October 2020 was 26 per cent, which has increased to 40 per cent in April 2021. A total of 36 specialized Covid hospitals and 66 Covid care centres have been established by the state government to provide treatment to the Covid-19 patients.

Besides, 78 private hospitals in the state have also been authorized for Covid-19 treatment.

Till April 8, a total of 37,27,552 vaccine doses have been provided to the people in the state.

The first dose of vaccination has been given to 87 per cent of the health workers, 84 per cent of the frontline workers and 43 per cent of the beneficiaries aged above 45 years.