GTA urges Centre for Corona testing laboratory in its area

Amitava Banerjee | MP | 16 April 2020 | Darjeeling: Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Chairman Anit Thapa has appealed to the Union government for a COVID-19 testing laboratory in the GTA area. 

"The government of India is the final authority on setting up of testing lab and supply of testing kits. I appeal to Darjeeling MP Raju Bista to move the Union Ministry of Health to setup a lab in the GTA region," stated Thapa. 

On Thursday, 41 people who were in the quarantine centres of Disha and Marwari Bhawan in Kalimpong all tested negative for the second time. They were all discharged. Incidentally, these persons had directly or indirectly come in contact with a 45-year-old COVID-19 positive woman from Kalimpong, who passed away at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) on March 26. 

"We can proudly say that the GTA region is now a COVID Zero region. The government of India has declared the entire GTA region as a Non-Hotspot Zone. The GTA will now step up the screening process in the border areas of our region. The GTA will setup its own volunteers to screen cars. Thermal cameras will be installed shortly. Installation of CCTVs is to be done in the borders and data collection will be done at the border areas. The expansion of testing facilities in the GTA region will help us to reduce the spread of this infection," stated Thapa. 

There are reports of shortage of testing kits at the Virus Research and Detection Laboratory (VRDL) at NBMCH. 

"We have sent requisition for the Extraction and VCM kits. The kits will arrive by Friday. We have started receiving swabs from Sikkim also," stated Doctor Prabir Kumar Deb, principal, NBMCH. 

A molecular biologist will also be joining the VRDL at the NBMCH from Kolkata. He will be assisting the tests here. Meanwhile, the mother-in-law of the COVID-19 positive nurse of NBMCH has also tested positive. 

The nurse along with her husband and mother-in-law are under treatment at Dr. Chang's Nursing Home, which is the dedicated COVID-19 hospital in the area. 

(Courtesy, source and link - Millenium Post- http://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/gta-urges-centre-for-corona-testing-laboratory-in-its-area-407404)