61 people, including 30 journalists, test negative for Covid-19 on day 2

At least 61 people, including 30 journalists, were tested for Covid-19 using rapid testing kits (RTKs) in the district on Tuesday. All were tested negative, according

At least 61 people, including 30 journalists, were tested for Covid-19 using rapid testing kits (RTKs) in the district on Tuesday. All were tested negative, according to district health officials. Earlier, Gurugram rolled out antibody testing for Covid-19 in the Sohna containment zone on Monday. It was two days after the district health department received 750 RTKs, which can provide results within 30 minutes.

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The health department took the decision to test city-based journalists after 53 TV reporters and camerapersons in Mumbai were found positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus on Monday.

Journalists from local electronic and print media visited the old Civil Hospital to give their blood samples. Dr Jaswant Singh Punia, Gurugram’s chief medical officer(CMO) said that the antibody test for journalists will be done on Wednesday too. “Thirty journalists gave their blood samples and all of them were found to be negative. On Monday night, the district administration decided to test reporters and camerapersons after the reports of Mumbai-based journalists contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged. A lot of journalists in the city are visiting hospitals and slums and meeting people. Therefore it is important that we test them,” said Punia.

Sudhir Singla, MLA Gurugram, who wrote to deputy commissioner Amit Khatri on this issue on Monday, said, “The plan was to test electronic media journalists and camerapersons on Tuesday and print media journalists on Wednesday. However, we saw a mixed group on Tuesday. More tests are likely to be conducted on Wednesday.”

TESTING IN SOHNA CONTAINMENT ZONE

The health department team, on the other hand, comprising accredited social health activists (ASHAs), auxiliary nurses and midwives (ANMs) and medical officers, conducted a survey of more than 260 houses in the Sohna containment zone. At least 31 people were tested and all were found to be negative for Covid-19.

Punia said that as a part of survey, they enquire about the health conditions especially flu-like symptoms, such as fever and cough in the last five to six days. “The suspected cases were taken to the Sohna sub-divisional hospital where their samples were taken. Their test results were shared by sending messages on their mobile numbers,” said Punia.

The state health department has clarified that government will use the kits in hotspot districts, such as Gurugram, Nuh and Hathin in Palwal. In Gurugram, there are six containment zones, namely Devi Lal Colony, Sun City Sector 54, Sector 39, Fazilpur village in Jharsa, Village Raipur in Sohna and Ward no. 11, Pataudi.

The district health department launched the antibody tests in the containment zone in Sohna after it reported 14 cases. On Monday, five antibody tests were conducted in Sohna, which were found to negative. Punia said that the test will also start in Pataudi, where six Covid-19 cases have been reported. Till now, 37 cases have been reported in the city, of which 26 have recovered and 11 are undergoing treatment.

Antibody test helps in finding out whether a person has developed antibodies against Covid-19. A negative test does not prove that the person is free of disease. Health officials say it is likely that antibodies for coronavirus are not present in a patient’s blood in the initial stages of the infection.

As per the state guideline prepared by PGIMS Rohtak, even if a suspected case with flu-like symptom tests negative for antibody, his/her swabs will be taken for RT-PCR test and the person have to be isolated or quarantined for 10 days. Antibody tests will not be done on those having signs of Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) and on high-risk cases. Their samples will be directly collected for RT-PCR.

On Monday, Haryana also received its first shipment of 25,000 RTKs from SD Bio Sensor, a Korean company based in IMT Manesar. State health department said that additional kits would help in speeding up testing in containment zones, hot spots and asymptomatic cases.