He made the remarks during his video-conferenceinteraction with the members of two central teams that touredMumbai and Pune cities, the two coronavirus hotspots in thestate.
The teams took a review of the medical machinery,implementation of the lockdown measures and social distancing,safety of health workers and situation of labourers in sheltercamps, supply of essential goods, among other things.
A statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office(CMO) said that Thackeray told the teams that reducing themortality rate of COVID-19 patients and increasing the periodof doubling of positive cases were his government's focus.
At present, the period of doubling of patients in thestate is seven days, which has to be increased to more than 10days, Thackeray told the teams.
He asked the state administration to take intoconsideration all the suggestions made by the central teams.
The teams expressed satisfaction that the governmentwas carrying out more tests to detect the positive cases.
The statement said that 78.9 per cent of the patients,who died due to the infection, had other ailments and were inthe age group of 51 to 60 years.
Additional Secretary Manoj Joshi is leading the five-member team in Mumbai, while the Pune team is being led bySanjay Malhotra, Additional Secretary in the Ministry ofPower.
Thackeray said that PPE kits may be required inadditional numbers at a later stage and it is important thatthe central government makes them available expeditiously.
At the local level, some companies are manufacturingPPE kits, for which the central government guidelines arenecessary, he said.
He also said that the state administration shouldfollow all the guidelines given by the central teams.
Joshi suggested that institutional quarantinefacilities should be increased. He also called for the need tohave focused testing, hygiene in slum pockets, shifting ofquarantine facilities from congested areas, like Dharavi, toother places, starting nursing homes and private dispensaries.
Stating that there are complaints that non-COVID-19patients are suffering due to the unavailability of medicalfacilities, Thackeray asked the authorities to take steps sothat such things do not happen. He also instructed them tostart nursing homes and clinics for other patients soon.
Maharashtra Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta told thecentral teams that the state is conducting COVID-19 tests sixtimes more than being done in Kerala.
Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Pravin Pardeshi said4,270 persons per 10 lakh population are being tested in themetropolis. MRNP NP