Kolkata’s civic body takes Rapid Antigen Test to doorstep

“When the first wave hit in 2020, we had seen that many housing societies and high-rise buildings became hot spots of Covid-19. Many had to be declared as containment zones,” said the official

With Kolkata registering the highest number of new Covid-19 case every day among all districts in West Bengal, the city’s civic body has planned to take Rapid Antigen Test to the doorstep of citizens.

A medic helps a Covid-19 patient wear a surgical mask on his face after getting off an ambulance, in Kolkata. (File photo)

“When the first wave hit in 2020, we had seen that many housing societies and high-rise buildings became hot spots of Covid-19. Many had to be declared as containment zones,” said a senior Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) official. With a dedicated helpline, the KMC plans to reach these high-rise buildings and large housing societies.

“A dedicated mobile number (9831036572) has been launched for the purpose. Residents living in high-rise buildings and large housing societies can call on this number. If the number of residents is more than 30, the KMC would send a vehicle to conduct tests there,” said a senior official of the civic body.

“Kolkata, together with the two adjacent districts of North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas, accounts for nearly 50% of the 19,441 new cases that have been recorded on Sunday,” said a senior official of the state health department.

“Reports of RT-PCR may take up to 72 hours to arrive at, so the KMC is ramping up Rapid Antigen Tests, the results of which take only a few hours,” said the official.

The civic body and the state government have also urged the large housing societies and high-rise campuses to come up with quarantine facilities and isolation centres with oxygen facilities.