Nitish Kumar directs ramping Covid-19 testing as migrants inflow increases in Bihar
Demanding more kits and equipment from the Centre, Nitish Kumar had also said at the video conference with PM Modi the state would like to ensure 10,000 tests per day from just 1,800 tests per day at present to check the spread of Covid-19.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday evening directed the top brass of the state administration to increase testing in view of the growing number of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19 ) cases and a steady inflow of migrants.
The number of Covid-19 cases has reached 879, from just 66 on April 14, in the state.
Kumar said during a review meeting that random testing in the state would not be enough now and the testing capacity must be increased to 10,000 per day amid the arrival of migrant workers, which would grow further in the coming days, said a statement issued by the Bihar government late on Tuesday evening.
He directed officials to take necessary steps to ramp up testing.
Demanding more kits and equipment from the Centre, Kumar had also said at the video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday the state would like to ensure 10,000 tests per day from just 1,800 tests per day at present to check the spread of Covid-19.
Apart from Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) machine and its testing kits, automatic RNA extraction, Bihar has also demanded 100 ventilators.
The chief minister on Tuesday said all the migrants who want to come should be brought to the state over the next seven days.
“The officials should coordinate with other states to bring them back. From nearby states, buses could also be used and arrangements should be made,” he added.
A senior official said the chief minister wanted a regulated inflow of migrants so that they could be properly screened and quarantined to prevent the spread of infection, as the bulk of the positive cases in the last one week have turned out to be migrants in the last few days.
“The problem with Bihar is not the inflow of migrants. Migrants are always welcome home. The problem is that many of them are coming from high-risk red zones in worst-affected states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi,” a state minister said, adding the Centre needs to put the focus on the state’s concerns before it gets too late.
“This is multiplying the virus load on Bihar. By the time positive cases are detected, they have already spread it to new areas,” the minister cited above said.
Sanjay Kumar, the principal secretary of the department of health, tweeted late on Tuesday that 15 TrueNat machines would be installed at 13 district hospitals in the state, while 25 more were in pipeline, on the direction of the CM and health minister.
“This will help us to decentralise and speed up testing,” he added.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had on April 10 validated the usage of TrueNat, a diagnostic machine for testing test drug-resistant tuberculosis, for Covid-19 tests.
On its part, Bihar has been treading cautiously in view of the formidable challenge it might have to face.
None of the Bihar districts is in the green zone since the very beginning of the third phase of lockdown. There are quarantine centres in every block and panchayats of the state, a decision the government took in the view of the migrants’ inflow.
