COVID-19 pandemic: 10 sample collection centres to come up in HP's Kangra

The authorities are set to open 10 sample collection centres in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district to ramp up COVID-19 testing, a health official said on Monday. The proposed centres would be set up at Zonal Hospital Dharamshala, Tanda Medical College and civil hospitals in Nagrota Bagwan, Palampur, Baijnath, Dehra, Jwalamukhi, Shahpur, Nurpur and Kangra, said CMO Gurdarshan Gupta. These sample collection facilities would start functioning from Tuesday, the chief medical officer said.

In addition to these centres, two mobile vans are already engaged in the district for collecting samples of people suffering from influenza like illness, Gupta said. Besides, 1,000 Rapid Diagnostic Testing (RDT) kits received from the state government would be used in the hotspot areas, he said. Around 450 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Kangra so far, which include tests of patients suffering from acute breathing illness at Tanda Medical College, the CMO said.

He said only five persons tested positive for coronavirus in the district. Two persons with COVID-19 symptoms were admitted in the Zonal Hospital and five others kept at a medical facility in Chheb, Gupta said. The CMO said though the state government has relaxed some conditions of curfew, people should strictly follow social distancing and regularly wash hands with soap.