Punjab starts rapid testing for coronavirus from Mohali and Jalandhar
Punjab Government on Tuesday launched Rapid Testing facility for coronavirus from two districts of the state — Jalandhar, and Mohali — with the aim of covering all the 17 hotspots in a phased manner. It has been launched by Punjab's Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu at SDH Derabassi, with the commencement of sampling.
The Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Vini Mahajan stated the state government had received 1000 Rapid Testing Kits for coronavirus testing on Tuesday from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
For now, the two districts of the state – SAS Nagar (Mohali) and Jalandhar — have been given 500 kits each to start the testing process, she said. Adding, Vini Mahajan said that the facility is likely to be extended to other districts as well, depending on the situation of suspected cases and availability of rapid testing kits.
The rapid testing would initially be done for all the patients attending flu corners of Government health facilities, who have symptoms for more than seven days. The rapid test is simply done with a single prick to take a blood sample and gives the result in 15 minutes.
Likewise, instructions have been given to the districts to submit the daily reports of the tests conducted along with the results. Also, a portal has been created by the Health Department - www.covid-19punjab.in - for information on testing and recording the patient's profile.
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Meanwhile, the Punjab government has ordered 10 lakh such Rapid Testing Kits from the ICMR, with inquiries raised for another 10000 in the open market. The government is planning to continuously expand its testing facilities, including that of rapid testing, over the next few days.
-PTC News
