JAMSHEDPUR/BOKARO: Just like the state capital, districts like East Singhbhum and
Bokaro have started preparing themselves for a possible second wave and are taking up measures to curb the rising graph.
The East Singhbhum district on Sunday said it will launch a drive from Monday to conduct
Covid tests and to make sure people comply with the pandemic norms. Meanwhile, the district health department said it will conduct 150 RT-PCRs and 50 TrueNat tests in each of the nine blocks till the end of November.
Special camps will be held at Tatanagar railway station to conduct Covid tests of commuters entering the town. “People who travelled outside before the festivals are now returning home and therefore tests are compulsory,” said district surveillance officer Sahir Pal. Tests will be made mandatory even for those travelling in buses.
Long-distance bus operators have been asked to maintain a register to keep a record of the name, address and contact number of passengers returning from Bihar, Odisha, Bengal and other districts of the state, for contact tracing, if required.
Surprise checks will also be conducted to ensure compliance of the pandemic norms among the common people. Those found violating the norms will be taken to open jails and tested for the virus.
Health teams at the 12 interstate and inter-district checkpoints have also been alerted to keep an eye on those entering the district.
“With a recovery rate of 96% and mortality rate of 2.2%, our district is improving fast, but the spike in the number of fresh cases in a few states after the
festival season necessitated us to be alert,” said Dr Harpreet Singh, a private medical practitioner.
In Bokaro, the district health department said it will speed up the testing from Monday and have plans to set up camps at the railway station and bus stands to screen passengers returning from Bihar after celebrating Chhath Puja. Authorities have requested the state government to provide them with sufficient stock of rapid antigen testing (RAT) kits for the purpose.
Civil surgeon Dr A K Pathak said, “We are preparing for the second wave. RAT kits would be received tomorrow (Monday) as we are going to intensify testing in the district. We have set a target to conduct 2,000 plus tests every day. At present, we are conducting 1,000 tests a day. For RT-PCR tests, we are sending samples to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi from where we get reports within three days.”