Steel City to ramp up Covid testing facility

Jamshedpur: East Singhbhum, the worst-affected district with the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the state, will soon increase the number of coronavirus tests conducted every day at two of its recognised hospitals in Jamshedpur.
The government-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College and Hospital (MGMMCH), which is conducting 250 RT-PCR diagnostic tests for Covid-19 every day, will soon build capacity to test 1,000 samples a day. The private Tata Main Hospital (TMH), which is conducting 150 diagnostic tests of samples at its laboratory, will also ramp up capacity to 500 in the next week.
East Singhbhum DC Ravi Shankar Shukla said, “We are in the process of installing a new testing machine at MGMMCH and that will help us increase the number of samples being tested. TMH is also working towards capacity building. The new facilities will be functional in a week.”
As of Wednesday morning, East Singhbhum has recorded 392 cases of coronavirus since the outbreak started in the district on May 12. Of these, 175 are active cases and 217 have recovered. The second worst affected district — Simdega — has recorded 353 cases, of which just nine are active, according to data released by the state government on Wednesday morning.
Shukla said the health machinery is now focusing on conducting as many tests as possible so that patients can be diagnosed in time and medical assistance is administered to them. “Contact tracing of the persons is being done with all seriousness,” he said, adding that a total of 800 persons have been identified under the contact-tracing drive in the district so far.
Sample testing in the district started at MGMMCH on March 25 and TMH introduced the facility on April 25. TMH head Sanjay Kumar said, “Sample testing facility and quarantine arrangements in the district is very good.” Asking people to exercise caution, East Singhbhum civil surgeon Maheshwar Prasad said, “We have to be very careful during the current Unlock phase, particularly in public places, to avoid contracting the disease.”
In the 100 days of lockdown, 23,037 sample tests have been conducted in the district. Till June 27, TMH reported admission of 280 Covid-19 patients, of which 186 have been discharged. MGMMCH reported 72 admissions and 36 discharges while Tata Motors Hospital reported 31 admissions and 20 recoveries.
Indian Medical Association’s Jamshedpur functionary Mrityunjay Singh said: “The district administration is doing the right thing by increasing surveillance and intensifying checking at the (13) inter-state check points to ensure visitors don’t venture into the district.”