KOCHI: Offering some relief to the Kochi Corporation, none of its staff including contingent workers tested Covid positive on the first day of the antibody and antigen testing at the Ernakulam Town Hall on Saturday. As many as 163 corporation workers turned up on day one of the testing camp organised free of cost in association with HLL Lifecare.The corporation decided on antigen and antibody testing for its staff after the number of Covid cases in the city shot up alarmingly. HLL Lifecare is planning to complete the tests among the corporation’s 3,000-strong staff in the next 10 days.
“We conducted antigen tests only when the IgM test results of the staff were positive. Out of 163 persons, only one turned positive in the antibody tests. But his antigen test was negative. If the staff can continue with the same safety mechanism, they can beat Covid. However, it is early to say that we are safe. We can heave a sigh of relief only if all of them are negative,” said Dr Reji Krishna, senior manager, HLL Lifecare.
Meanwhile, Mayor Soumini Jain said healthcare workers and other health department officials were given priority on the first day of the camp. “Healthcare workers and health department staff are more exposed to the virus than others. That’s why we have decided to test them,” said the Mayor, who also underwent the test on Saturday.