This story is from April 10, 2020

Nitish Kumar for more centres to test Covid-19 samples

With the number of coronavirus cases rising to 51 in the state on Thursday, CM Nitish Kumar asked the officials concerned to devise ways for opening more testing centres.
Nitish Kumar for more centres to test Covid-19 samples
Nitish Kumar
PATNA: With the number of coronavirus cases rising to 51 in the state on Thursday, CM Nitish Kumar asked the officials concerned to devise ways for opening more testing centres.
So far, there are altogether four Covid-19 testing centres in the state at Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital and Patna Medical College and Hospital.

As the first positive case of Covid-19 was reported in Bihar on March 22, unlike other states where cases started getting detected from January-end, state health department principal secretary Sanjay Kumar tweeted on Thursday, “Many of you have questions about testing facilities in the state. We have compiled testing data of major states by using different sources. The states where positive cases were reported earlier have more testing centres. Laboratory infrastructure also varies and capacity has been an issue across the country.”
The CM, who held a review meeting involving chief secretary Deepak Kumar and other senior officials, also said the doctors should be provided with PPE kits, face masks and all necessary equipment required for pacing up the testing exercises, besides ensuring that there is no shortage of items required for their protection.
He added that all protocols – screening, quarantine, isolation and testing – should be maintained in districts declared as hotspots.
The CM appealed to people who have returned from other states or abroad not to hide their travel history and voluntarily come up for screening. He asked the officials to trace and track down people with whom they had come in contact on return and follow the necessary protocol.
The CM told home department additional chief secretary Amir Subhani and health department principal secretary Sanjay Kumar to put into service all required resources to stop the spread of coronavirus. He asked the chief secretary to identify more hotels and buildings which could be provided with all facilities in advance for their conversion into isolation centres.
The CM asked the officials to strictly enforce the lockdown in the state, besides sealing the places and districts which have been declared as hotspots.
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