Shimla, May 22 (IANS): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday launched home isolation kit and asked the legislators to provide them to Covid-19 patients at their doorstep.

Simultaneously, he launched Himachal Covid Care Application and e-Sanjeevani OPD to connect people with the AIIMS in Bilaspur for online consultation and treatment.

Speaking on the occasion, Thakur said the home isolation kits would be provided to the patients by MLAs.

He urged the elected representatives to ensure that the kits were made available to the patients at the earliest.

The Chief Minister said e-Sanjeevani OPD would ensure effective communication between the patient and the doctor.

He said the Covid Care App would provide an effective mechanism for monitoring the patients in home isolation.

Thakur said over 18 lakh tests have been conducted in the state and about 175,000 persons had tested Covid-19 positive.

A total of 2,638 people had lost their lives.

He said the positivity rate in the state during the first phase was 5.53, whereas it has increased to 15.67 per cent in the second wave.

The bed capacity has been increased from 1,200 to about 5,000. Similarly the state has increased the storage capacity of oxygen by 25 metric tons.