With the coronavirus outbreak raging on and testing patients becoming an uphill task for hospital administration, the Panchkula health department will now be setting up its own Covid-19 testing lab, likely by the end of the month. Officials in the know said the process had begun at the Sector 6 civil hospital in the district.
As per information, the hospital administration has finalised a space near the psychiatric ward on the fourth floor of Block C, and a team will be checking the premises to install the machine, which will test 80 samples at a time.
Currently, the district health department is dependent on Chandigarh’s PGIMER and the Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College in Karnal, where samples are sent for tests.
On this, Panchkula civil surgeon Dr Jasjeet Kaur said the health department was working to set up the project and aimed to open the lab at the civil hospital in the next week. “Installation is underway. Some parts are awaited. It is being calibrated and staff is being trained for it,” said Dr Kaur.
She said this will streamline the process of collecting samples and cut down the waiting period of reports, as other labs were deluged with the increasing number of samples coming in every day. Officials said when the lab opens next week, they will first hold a trial.
{{/usCountry}}She said this will streamline the process of collecting samples and cut down the waiting period of reports, as other labs were deluged with the increasing number of samples coming in every day. Officials said when the lab opens next week, they will first hold a trial.
{{/usCountry}}750 RAPID KITS, BUT STAY ON THEIR USE
To collect more samples in Panchkula, the district’s health department has also got around 750 rapid test kits. Officials said till now, only those with travel history, their contacts and suspected patients, who visited the hospital, were being tested. But with several confirmed cases which were asymptomatic, more people will need to be tested.
Meanwhile, these rapid test kits cannot be used for the time being in absence of permission from higher authorities. Dr Kaur said, “We have got more than 750 testing kits, but currently their utilisation has been stayed, as we are following the directions of the Indian Council of Medical Research.”