Noida: Random RT-PCR tests to be conducted in border areas

Noida: The Gautam Budh Nagar district administration has started random testing and decided to conduct RT-PCR tests in the border areas having more caseload to assess the trend of the surge in Covid-19 cases

Noida: The Gautam Budh Nagar district administration has started random testing and decided to conduct RT-PCR tests in the border areas having more caseload to assess the trend of the surge in Covid-19 cases.

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A team of health officials randomly tested 205 people in the Ashok Nagar and Botanical Garden areas on Thursday. None of them tested positive for the virus.

District magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar Suhas LY said the administration has adapted a micro-containment strategy to control the spread of the viral infection in the worst-affected areas of the district.

“We have started random testing to assess the spread of the infection following a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases in the district. Estimating the actual prevalence of Covid-19 in a population can help in issuing further advisories to employers and organisations, where a large number of people work and commute between G B Nagar and the nearby areas. Though no one tested positive during the random rapid antigen testing on Thursday, we’ll continue this operation at two different locations every day for a week,” he said.

The district magistrate further said since the positivity rate in rapid antigen tests was mostly negligible, a decision has been taken to conduct reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests in the critical pockets. “It’ll give us the exact picture of the infection spread and help us in keeping a record of the case positivity in the district,” he said.

Echoing similar views, Dr Deepak Ohri, chief medical officer of Gautam Budh Nagar (CMO), said district health officials have been continuously testing at least 3,500 people per day, right from the first day that the infection was detected in India .

“Despite a sudden surge in the adjoining states, the situation in Gautam Budh Nagar is still under control. Even the vaccination rate of the district is second in the state. Of the total 65,048 beneficiaries targeted for March, 60,587 (93.14%) people above 60 years and those between 45 and 59 years with comorbidities have been inoculated in the third phase of the vaccination drive month till March 25. This indicates that we will cover more beneficiaries than the target set for this month,” said Ohri.