Sikkim: India’s only Covid-free state gets its first testing lab

Sikkim, India’s solely Covid-free state, has provide you with its first laboratory to test swab samples of Covid-19 sufferers, prime officers of the tiny Himalayan state mentioned on Thursday.

Till date the state needed to ship swab samples to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, round 100 km away, below tight safety. Around 200 samples have been examined at NBMCH up to now.

“Four Truenat beta-CoV test machines have been installed in state-run STNM hospital in Gangtok. Earlier it took us at least two days to get the test result as they had to be sent to NBMCH in Siliguri. Now we will get the results in one hour,” mentioned Mani Kumar Sharma, well being minister of Sikkim.

Truenat beta-CoV test is a screening test. If examined positive, an individual has to bear an RT-PCR test for affirmation of Covid-19.

Sikkim, with a inhabitants of 6.19 lakh, shares worldwide borders with China, Nepal and Bhutan. While the state was amongst the primary to shut the worldwide borders and ban the entry of overseas and home vacationers, it additionally took early choice to shut two of the 4 border examine posts with West Bengal.

“So far not a single person has tested positive for Covid 19 in the state,” mentioned a prime well being official of the state.

Adjoining Kalimpong district in West Bengal has witnessed the dying of a 44-year-old girl from Covid-19 on March 30 at NBMCH. In all, 11 members of her household in Kalimpong and Siliguri additionally examined positive. They have all been handled and discharged.

“Along with the four Truenat machines, the state has also received 1,440 testing kits. We are, however, waiting for the guidelines from the Indian Council of Medical Research for the full-scale operation of the machines,” mentioned Pempa T Bhutia, Sikkim’s well being secretary.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal authorities has additionally authorised 15 state-run hospitals to start out Truenat beta checks to ramp up testing. Till date, West Bengal has examined 16,525 samples at 14 authorised testing labs. In the final 24 hours, the state performed round 1905 checks.