BMC starts mobile testing vans for sample collection of suspected Covid-19 patients

With many housing societies not allowing visitors inside their premises even for home testing for the coronavirus, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation(BMC) has

With many housing societies not allowing visitors inside their premises even for home testing for the coronavirus, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation(BMC) has now introduced mobile testing vans.

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These vans will be operated by private labs in the city and can collect swab samples at the gates of housing societies. Two private labs have so far signed up to provide this facility.

The first such mobile testing van did a round at Vikhroli earlier this week. The vans will be requisitioned by the ward officers depending upon the requirement in the area.

Civic officials said these vans can also be stationed at selected locations and those given appointments for testing can reach there in different time slots.

Apart from this, BMC has three other alternatives like getting tested at private labs of civic-run hospitals, representatives collecting samples from homes and drive-through testing which has been started at 18 public parking lots.

A BMC official said, “If going from gate to gate is too much, we can also decide a central location in a particular area where several people can be tested. Each person can be given a time slot for testing. With these vans, we can also go to different hospitals for collecting samples and getting them delivered.”

P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner of the BMC said, “We are offering mobile van testing as an option for those wanting to make use of it. We can collect samples from entry and exit points of housing societies.”

Meanwhile, SRL Diagnostics, associated with BMC, that has started mobile van testing in a statement said, “Mobile-testing facility is being used to fast-track sample collection for Covid-19 testing. Using this mechanism we would save time and energy of both patients and our personnel. The vehicle can be taken to any part of the city without much difficulty and thereby also ensures easy access...”