Sahebganj loses corona-free tag

DHANBAD: Sahebganj, the only coronavirus-free district in the state till now, is all set to lose its tag after five migrant labourers tested positive in a TrueNat test at sadar hospital on Friday.

Sahebganj CS Dr DN Singh, said, “Their samples have been sent today to Patliputra Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Dhanbad for a confirmatory lab test.”

Out of the five positive cases, four are female. All of them had come from Maharashtra and Gujarat four days ago and were staying at Masansai quarantine centre of the district .

“After getting a positive result through the TrueNat test, there is only a 20% chance of them testing negative in the lab test. The confirmatory test reports are expected by Saturday”, the CS said. Three districts of Santhal Pargana division- Sahebganj, Pakur and Deoghar- have TrueNat machine facility for emergency testing.

The CS said over 400 migrant labours are staying at different quarantine centres in the district. The five patients would be admitted immediately to the dedicated Covid-19 subdivisional Rajmahal hospital if the PMCH finds them to be Covid-19 positive, the CS said. “For the time being, they are at a quarantine centre and are under observation,” he said.