Darjeeling: A large number of migrants returning to North Bengal have put the COVID-19 testing system in a spot of bother, resulting in huge backlogs. In North Bengal, there are two testing facilities — one at Malda Medical College and the other at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH,) Siliguri. While the first testing facility conducts tests for Malda, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur, the NBMCH conducts tests for Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and at times for Sikkim too.
With thousands of migrant workers, students and patients returning, the testing infrastructure has been stretched to the limit. While working round-the-clock, Malda conducts around 1,000 tests daily, the number of swab samples coming in every day is more than 1,500. The same situation prevails at the NBMCH. While the NBMCH has a backlog of around 7000 tests, Malda has 3,000. "Most of the migrant workers are testing positive and most of them are asymptomatic. The lab is working round-the-clock but as the number of returnees is increasing and we are collecting swabs of all of them, the backlog is growing by the day. However, the returnees are being quarantined to prevent community spread," stated Dr Bhushan Chakravarty, CMOH, Malda.
http://www.millenniumpost.in/
With thousands of migrant workers, students and patients returning, the testing infrastructure has been stretched to the limit. While working round-the-clock, Malda conducts around 1,000 tests daily, the number of swab samples coming in every day is more than 1,500. The same situation prevails at the NBMCH. While the NBMCH has a backlog of around 7000 tests, Malda has 3,000. "Most of the migrant workers are testing positive and most of them are asymptomatic. The lab is working round-the-clock but as the number of returnees is increasing and we are collecting swabs of all of them, the backlog is growing by the day. However, the returnees are being quarantined to prevent community spread," stated Dr Bhushan Chakravarty, CMOH, Malda.
http://www.millenniumpost.in/
Post a Comment
We love to hear from you! What's on your mind?