E-Paper
Tripura to procure sequencing machine to test new Covid-19 variant
A total of 3,317 international passengers were found infected with Covid-19. Of the total, 114 have returned from the United Kingdom.
As the new UK variant genome of Sars-Cov-2 virus made its entrance into India by affecting six UK returnees, Tripura decided to procure sequencing machines to identify whether the variant has affected anyone in the state.
A total of 3,317 international passengers were found infected with Covid-19. Of the total, 114 have returned from the United Kingdom.
“The health department has already started the process for procuring the sequencing machine. It would be brought to Agartala for testing samples. All international passengers, including the UK returnees, need to undergo RT-PCR tests which are mandatory for them. Currently, the samples will be sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for confirmation,” said cabinet spokesperson Ratan Lal Nath.
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Nath further added that total five UK returnees have arrived in the state between November 25 and December 28. Of them, one traveller was tested Covid-19 positive. His samples have been sent to Pune for confirmation.
The state also selected The Panchayati Raj Training Institute (PRTI) Women’s hostel as an institutional quarantine centre for treatment of the patients if found infected with the new variant of the virus.
A total of 44,521 healthcare workers and 2,263 session sites, along with 1,429 primary vaccinators, were identified till December 28 and the database was uploaded on the website. Six team members for each session site were identified, he added.
