Nabarangpur districtto get RT-PCR lab within a week: Chief Secretary

BHUBANESWAR: The new RT-PCR laboratory sanctioned by the State government for Nabarangpur district recently will be made operational within a week and the district headquarters hospital (DHH) would have an oxygen plant within four months.

This was informed by Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra after reviewing the Covid-19 situation in Nabarangpur district which witnessed a surge in the spread of coronavirus due to its porous border with Covid hotspot Chhattisgarh.

The new RT-PCR laboratory will have the capacity to test around 600 samples a day. The people of the district will no longer be required to go to other places for tests, he said.After visiting the Covid care centres (CCCs) and DHH in Nabarangpur along with Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, the Chief Secretary said the Covid situation in the district is improving.

“There has been a fall in the test positivity rate (TPR) in the district from 20 per cent to 13 per cent in the last few days because of lockdown and other enforcement measures taken by the government. If this trend continues, it is expected that the Covid cases will reduce further in coming days,” he told mediapersons.

The Chief Secretary said that a new 200-bed ward and oxygen plant in the DHH will be ready within 3 to 4 months.

He said the ICU facility and ventilators used in the temporary CCCs of the district will be shifted to the DHH once the situation becomes normal. With people complaining about vaccine shortage, the Chief Secretary said 20,000 doses were supplied to the district which have been administered to beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group. 

Another 10,000 doses will be supplied shortly.Later, the Chief Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary visited dedicated CCCs and Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital, at Koraput and reviewed the situation in the district.