Karnali Province
Jumla organises mobile camps to collect swabs of recent returnees
Health personnel collected 324 swab samples and sent them to Kathmandu through a sky truck and a helicopter of Nepal Army on Tuesday evening.![Jumla organises mobile camps to collect swabs of recent returnees](https://assets-api.kathmandupost.com/thumb.php?src=https://assets-cdn.kathmandupost.com/uploads/source/news/2020/news/swab-sankalan-gardai-jumla.jpg&w=900&height=601)
LP Devkota
Chandannath Municipality, Kanasundari Rural Municipality and Hima Rural Municipality in Jumla organised mobile camps on Tuesday to collect the swab samples of those who entered the district March 24 onwards.
A team of doctors from Kathmandu and Karnali Academy of Health Sciences collected swabs of individuals suspected of having Covid-19 from the three local units. Health personnel collected 324 swab samples, which were sent to Kathmandu through a sky truck and a helicopter of Nepal Army on Tuesday evening, according to Durga Banjade, chief district officer of Jumla.
“Initially, we had estimated that we’d collect around 250 samples but more recent returnees came forward to deposit their samples,” said Banjade. “We have sent the collected samples to Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Kathmandu for lab tests.”
According to the local administration, 150 swabs were collected from Chandannath, Tila Taopani, Patarasi and Jumla Airport; 124 swabs from Hima; and 50 from Kanakasundari.
According to the data of the Ministry of Social Development in Karnali Province released on March 29, 8,650 foreign returnees have entered the Karnali region since March 24. Among them, 5,080 are from Jumla.
Dr Mangal Rawal, director at the Karnali Academy of Health Sciences, said the Karnali region should be on high alert since it saw a large number of returnees from various Indian cities in the last two weeks.
“The swab collection drive was conducted in coordination with the federal government. We have collected 324 swab samples in Jumla, and will extend our reach in the coming days” said Rawal.
Until Wednesday, 624 swabs have been collected from the Karnali Province.
“Among them, 90 were found negative for coronavirus. The results of the remaining tests are yet to come,” said Om Acharya, the focal person of the Province Health Directorate, adding that swabs will be tested in Surkhet through Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction machine from April 2.
According to Acharya, only 12 tests are being performed every day due to the low capacity of the machine.
“Other swabs are being sent to Kathmandu for tests on a daily basis,” said Acharya.
On Tuesday, 165 swab samples of individuals staying in a quarantine facility of Surkhet were sent to Kathmandu for tests, said Acharya.
The federal government had also provided the Karnali Province with 1,000 viral transform mediums to collect swabs.
“All those mediums have been distributed among the districts to collect swabs,” Acharya said.
Reeta Bhandari, director at the Province Health Directorate, said in the first phase, her office has started collecting swab samples of those who recently returned to the district from abroad.
“We have been conducting tests of patients with severe Covid-19 symptoms in Surkhet. The swabs of asymptomatic individuals are being sent to Kathmandu for lab tests,” said Bhandari.