HYDERABAD: Twenty-five people arriving in international flights will be randomly selected and Covid-19 tests will be done on them. As part of a new pool sampling method to find out community spread of the novel coronavirus, the Telangana government has issued guidelines to collect samples of migrant workers and others landing in Hyderabad from abroad and from other places in India. The guidelines are in tune with the ones issued by ICMR.
Sources said 25 passengers would be selected, their samples would be collected and later send them to the designated quarantine centres or kept in isolation in hotels. The pooled sampling will also be done randomly in green zones, which have not reported even a single Covid-19 case in the last 21 days.
Officials said one among the selected would be tested in a designated surveillance lab using the RT-PCR method. A report would be filed to the quarantine facility within 24 hours. “If any of the pooled samples tests positive, individual samples will be collected and tested,” sources said. This is being done to find out if there is any community spread, an offficial said.
The Union ministry of health and family welfare in a circular said that a decision had been taken to use one-time RT-PCR-based pooled sampling for surveillance purposes of migrant workers in institutional quarantine facilities. “International passengers put up in institutional quarantine facilities and hotels and those in green zones will also be subjected to this method,” the circular said.
Telangana health minister Eatala Rajender, while interacting with Asha workers and health department employees in a video conference told them that migrant workers should not be asked to go to Gandhi or King Koti hospitals immediately if they are unwell. “If you find any of the migrant workers to be unwell, refer them to the local primary health centre doctors. Let them decide if the workers need further tests. We must strictly follow the guidelines of ICMR,” he said.
Sources said 25 passengers would be selected, their samples would be collected and later send them to the designated quarantine centres or kept in isolation in hotels. The pooled sampling will also be done randomly in green zones, which have not reported even a single Covid-19 case in the last 21 days.
Officials said one among the selected would be tested in a designated surveillance lab using the RT-PCR method. A report would be filed to the quarantine facility within 24 hours. “If any of the pooled samples tests positive, individual samples will be collected and tested,” sources said. This is being done to find out if there is any community spread, an offficial said.
The Union ministry of health and family welfare in a circular said that a decision had been taken to use one-time RT-PCR-based pooled sampling for surveillance purposes of migrant workers in institutional quarantine facilities. “International passengers put up in institutional quarantine facilities and hotels and those in green zones will also be subjected to this method,” the circular said.
Telangana health minister Eatala Rajender, while interacting with Asha workers and health department employees in a video conference told them that migrant workers should not be asked to go to Gandhi or King Koti hospitals immediately if they are unwell. “If you find any of the migrant workers to be unwell, refer them to the local primary health centre doctors. Let them decide if the workers need further tests. We must strictly follow the guidelines of ICMR,” he said.
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