BHUBANESWAR: With testing capacity rising significantly to handle over 1,000 samples per day, the State Government has now moved to intensify surveillance beyond the hotspots at the district level. Director of National Health Mission (NHM), Odisha Shalini Pandit said collection of samples for testing has been stepped up at different places across the State with trained health staff deployed for the purpose. The localised sample collection system will focus on one targeted area at a time and move on to the next after completion of the first.
District Collectors and Commissioners of Municipal Corporations have been asked to set up mobile camps at different locations in their respective areas to expedite the process. “We have prioritised different cases for collection of samples. Samples of people with travel history, migrant labourers in camps, persons with symptoms and even health and sanitation workers are being collected on priority,” Pandit said.
With Bhubaneswar having the bulk of the clusters and highest positive cases, swab collection camps were opened at five locations in the City to expedite case detection and facilitate early treatment of persons found afflicted. The swab samples will be collected from targeted persons at Jharpada Primary School, Government High Schools at Chandrasekharpur and Saheed Nagar, Ganda Munda Upgraded High School and Mamataj Ali High School at Nayapalli till April 17.
As decided by the Government after analysing the nature of the positive cases and their sources of transmission, samples are being collected from people who have returned from abroad and coronavirus affected States on a priority basis. After installation of a new COBAS 6800 machine at Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), the Government expects daily testing to go up to 1000 per day. The State has tested 3,547 samples in the last one month while as many as 15,895 persons, including 4,366 from abroad and 11,529 from other States, returned before the lockdown was enforced. Besides, around 77,000 migrant workers are in 2,532 camps.
“Suspects residing close to the collection camps can self-report or the local administration will arrange vehicles if they are located at a distance,” Pandit said. Meanwhile, the district education officer of Khurda has been asked to engage two teachers, sweeper and night watchman at the schools where the camps have been opened. Medical teams would collect samples from 9 am to 12 pm and 3 pm to 5 pm every day.
strict vigil
The localised sample collection system will focus on one targeted area at a time and move on to the next after completion of the first
With Bhubaneswar having the bulk of the clusters and highest positive cases, swab collection camps were opened at five locations