
National
Province 5 to perform rapid diagnostic tests on all individuals staying in quarantine facilities
Dhaulagiri Zonal Hospital in Baglung has also started conducting rapid diagnostic tests from Thursday morning..jpg&w=900&height=601)
Amrita Anmol
In a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Province 5 government has decided to perform rapid diagnostic tests on all individuals staying in quarantine facilities in all 12 districts of the province. The total number of people quarantined in the province stands at 2,506.
Sudarshan Baral, minister of Social Development, said his office has started conducting rapid diagnostic tests on those who have completed two weeks in quarantine.
On Thursday, the ministry deployed six teams of health workers to test the health condition of individuals staying in various quarantine facilities in the province. Each team is assigned to cover two districts.
“Every individual who has completed two weeks in quarantine will undergo RDTs from Thursday. If their reports are found negative, they will be sent homes. If the results are positive, we will send the samples to Kathmandu-based Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital for further tests,” he said.
On Thursday, the federal government sent 5,000 rapid diagnostic test kits to Province 5. A team of health workers, led by Dr Ramesh Kharel, delivered the kits and necessary medical equipment to the province’s Ministry of Social Development. The team also took stock of the situation in Province 5.
So far, 152 swabs have been collected from Covid-19 suspects in Province 5. Among them, 125 have tested negative for the disease while the results for the remaining 27 are yet to come. Dr Umashankar Chaudhary, chief at the Health Division in the Ministry of Social Development, said, “As of now, 33 coronavirus suspected individuals are receiving treatment at various coronavirus-specific hospitals in Butwal, Dang and Banke.”
Rapid diagnostic tests for Covid-19 are currently being performed at the Province Public Health Laboratory in Bhairahawa. The lab has so far tested 36 samples, out of which 31 have tested negative for the disease. The results of the remaining five samples are yet to come, said Chaudhary.
Dhaulagiri Zonal Hospital in Baglung also started conducting rapid diagnostic tests Thursday morning onwards. Dr Shailendra Pokharel, medical superintendent of the hospital, said health personnel can test a sample within 15 minutes through this process.
“We are planning to test 900 to 1,000 samples in Baglung using RDTs,” said Pokharel. According to the local administration’s data, 900 individuals have arrived in the district from India and abroad in the past month.
Gaulochan Sainju, chief district officer of Baglung, said the district has so far received 1,000 rapid diagnostic test kits. “We plan to conduct tests for up to 100 individuals in a day,” said Sainju.
Kailali and Kanchanpur districts also started performing rapid diagnostic tests from Thursday. Ram Prasad Ojha, the lab inspector at the Provincial Public Health Laboratory in Dhangadhi, said 20 lab technicians from Kailali and Kanchanpur have been mobilised to conduct the test.
Prakash Baral in Baglung and Arjun Shah in Kailali contributed reporting.