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.

On Sunday, Kolkata registered 3,966 new cases while the death toll was 28 in the last 24 hours. The city has around 26,000 active cases.

“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.