E-Paper
Ludhiana police chief first in line as DMC&H starts Covid-19 tests
According to directions received from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) only 30 samples will be tested per day for the first week, which will be increased to 40 in the second week.
The Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMC&H) started testing for Covid-19 from Sunday, first checking police commissioner Rakesh Agrawal and deputy commissioner Pradeep Agrawal and other police and administrative officials, who, fortunately, tested negative.
Sharing details, the institute’s secretary Prem Gupta said concessions were being offered for the tests which cost DMC&H Rs 6,000. “However, while the patients admitted or coming directly to the hospital will be charged Rs 4,500; costs for a sample received from the government will be Rs 2,500.”
According to directions received from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) only 30 samples will be tested per day for the first week, which will be increased to 40 in the second week.
“We will increase the testing scale from 80 per day in the third week to 200 per day in the fourth week. We have also ordered 800 kits to match the speed of tests and soon will be able to test all samples collected in Ludhiana district,” Gupta said.
As protection of paramedical staff and doctors from Covid-19 was also prioritised, “Personal protection equipment (PPE) kits will be provided to the 16-member staff of the microbiology department each day to ensure they work without any fear,” said Gupta.
Pre-test trails at the microbiology lab of DMC&H were done on two samples of suspected flu patients for a week, which were also analysed by PGIMER labs and the results compared. Since its results were satisfactory
DMC&H was given green signal to conduct the Covid-19 tests.
Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh had proposed the names of DMC&H and Christian Medical College and Hospital to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a video conference and stated that the two prestigious medical institutions were capable of conducting Covid-19 tests.
The CM had also sought the requisite approvals to begin the testing facility.
At present, the state has three government laboratories, including Government Medical College, Amritsar, Government Medical College, Patiala, and Guru Gobind Singh Medical University, Faridkot.
