Jamshedpur: The district administration has launched a special Covid-19 RT-PCR testing drive across all the 10 blocks in East Singhbhum. The drive was held in the eight rural blocks on Monday, while tests will be conducted in the remaining two blocks comprising urban and suburban areas on Wednesday.
The drive was held at the public health centres (PICs) in Baharagora, Ghatshila, Dumaria, Chakulia, Musaboni, Potka, Patamda and Dhalbhumgarh. Tests would also be conducted at the popular markets and malls in the Steel City.
“We have set a target of carrying out 6,500 tests during the drive. Of which, 4,500 would be conducted in the rural blocks and the remaining 2,000 in the urban circle,” the additional chief medical officer (ACMO), Sahir Pall, said.
Notably, East Singhbhum has reported a high number of Covid cases and mortalities in the state. Till Sunday, the district recorded 18,056 Covid cases — including 17,627 recoveries, 375 deaths and 54 active cases.
The district health department has collected 5,33,493 samples since the outbreak of the pandemic. “Special Covid sample testing drive is an effective mechanism to check the spread of the disease and should be done periodically,” the secretary of the Indian Medical Association (Jamshedpur Chapter), Mrityunjay Singh, said.
He added that the testing drive was important as though the number of fresh cases has come down significantly, there was no room for any complacency.
Senior doctor Vinod Kumar Sharma said: “At present, almost all the cases are being reported from urban areas. It seems that we have to diligently follow all the Covid protocols for at least two more months.”
Meanwhile, 7,026 persons in the district have received their first shot of the Covid vaccine till now against a target of 14,355.