National Institute of Biologicals to become third test centre in Noida

Meenakshi Sinha | TNN | Updated: Apr 12, 2020, 15:39 IST

NOIDA: The National Institute of Biologicals (NIB), Sector 62, has been added to the list of new testing centres in the district after the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS), Greater Noida, and Child PGI in Gautam Budh Nagar. GIMS and Child PGI are likely to start functioning from early next week. The number of surveillance teams has been increased to 407 from 300, district magistrate Suhas LY said on Saturday.
“As of now, there are 64 positive cases from GB Nagar. While 12 people have been discharged, 52 people are in the active category. The aim is to reduce the number with adequate treatment. Two tests are conducted in a span of 24 hours each and if both reports are negative, a person is considered fit to be discharged from a hospital. But sometimes, the results take time to come in. Hence, we are providing facilities at local levels to fast track the process,” the DM said. Currently, all samples are being sent to Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh, and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi, for testing.
Brigadier (retd) Dr RK Gupta, director, GIMS, said: “We will have a team of 12 doctors and technicians who will conduct Covid-19 tests. We are aiming to conduct 100 tests per day.”
So far, the surveillance teams have visited 1.75 lakh houses, contacted and screened 5.62 lakh people and identified 516 people with travel history.
“Since immediate focus is on containment, surveillance is the most important aspect. Teams are now being assisted by medical interns and the focus is on tracking, contact tracing, containing and testing secondary contacts. These are our corona warriors, including all doctors and nurses and other officials and police officers, as they are our frontline workers,” said the DM.