Govt nod for setting up a RT-PCR lab in Ghaziabad
GHAZIABAD: In order to bolster the testing capabilities of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has approved a laboratory for the district that will have a capacity to conduct about 500-600 Covid-19 tests a day.
Announcing this, additional chief secretary (home) Awanish Awasthi said on Wednesday that a request for a larger testing facility was made by Ghaziabad district magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey during a video conferencing meeting held on Tuesday night.
Ghaziabad, at present, has no facility for conducting real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT -PCR) tests. The samples from the district are currently being sent to Noida, Meerut or Delhi.
The district has also been provided with a Truenat machine, which can take up 30 to 40 tests a day and provide results within the hour.
A Truenat machine is a portable testing device which is used for detection of negative status of different forms of infection.the health department officials said that they have been provided with Covid-19 kits by the state government and presently the machine is used for getting true negative status of a Covid-19 sample.
“If the sample tests negative on Truenat, it is confirmed as negative. But it tests positive, then it has to be sent for a confirmatory RT-PCR test. The Truenat gives us results within the hour and we generally use this in case of an emergency or women in labour, to check their Covid-19 status. One more Truenat machine is proposed to be provided to the women’s hospital,” Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer, said.
Currently, Ghaziabad sends an average of 450 samples a day
IN THE ABSENCE OF A DEDICATED LAB IN THE DISTRICT, SAMPLES WERE BEING SENT TO NOIDA AND DELHI
for RT-PCR testing. Since June 26, the district has also started conducting an average 275 antigen tests a day.
HT, on June 22, had reported that plans are underway for an RT-PCR testing laboratory in Ghaziabad.
“The CM also reviewed each district under the Meerut division (Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Meerut, Baghpat, Hapur and Bulandshahr) and directed that heightened steps be taken in order to spread of Covid-19. During the special screening and surveillance drive that will start from Wednesday (July 2) in the Meerut division the CM has directed that more antigen tests be conducted. The districts in Meerut division will be provided an additional 50,000 antigen test kits,” Awasthi said.
District magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey was not available for comment.
Dr Gupta said, “At present, Gautm Budh Nagar and Meerut have their own labs but there is no RT-PCR lab in Ghaziabad. We are dependent on other districts for getting our samples tested. There is considerable daily expenditure on fuel as we have to send vehicles with our samples to Noida, Meerut or Delhi. The results generally arrive on the third day. Once we get our own lab, we can get our test results within 24 hours. The proposed laboratory is expected to have a capacity of conducting anything between 400-600 tests per day and we have also identified a space for it at our Sanjay Nagar government hospital.”
According to officials, an antigen test confirms a true positive. But those not found positive have to be tested again in order to ascertain a true negative.
In the meanwhile, the health department has come up with quarantine facilities of 200 beds, combined, at RKGIT College and Ideal College for testing and treatment of influenza-like illness (ILI) patients.
During the drive starting July 2, surveillance teams will identify patients having ILI and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) symptoms, so that they can be treated beforehand.