Punjab to train medical staff to collect Covid-19 samples

CHANDIGARH: To increase the capacity of samples collection in each district, Punjab government has decided to impart special training to community health officers, staff nurses and pharmacists for collection and packing of swabs for RT-PCR Covid-19 testing.
At present, samples are collected by medical officers.
Health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said that Punjab has completed testing of over 1,00,000 samples for Covid-19. Since detecting its first confirmed Covid-19 positive case on March 5, the state has worked towards containing the spread of infection through ramping up its sample collection and lab capabilities.
The minister said that the state has increased its testing per million figures to 3,259 per day as on June 3, better than national average of 3,046 tests per million per day.
The state government has been making efforts to ramp up the testing capacities of labs in the state. Three new RT-PCR machines have been procured by the state for its Government Medical College labs.
Sidhu said that department of health has started TruNaat Testing in 5 districts of Punjab at Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Pathankot, Barnala and Mansa. The department has also started CBNaat testing at Faridkot and Patiala. For the purpose of surveillance, around 995 rapid response teams have been formed in the state in order to conduct active surveillance and identification of people with Influenza like Illness or severe acute respiratory Illness by house to house visits. "State has conducted ELISA based antibody tests for Sero-Surveillance in 4 high-burden districts of Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, Ludhiana and Patiala", he added.