Covid-19: At GMSH-16, Chandigarh OPDs, only 3 of 328 test positive

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 27

Even as Covid-19 cases are showing a downward trend in the city, the UT Health Department has been maintaining testing numbers to an average of over 600 per day by convincing residents to come forward for voluntary testing. The test positivity rate among random population has so far been quite low, indicating that the infection is under control in the city.

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Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, today started testing patients coming to OPDs by counselling them to get themselves tested. Of the 328 samples collected from different OPDs, only three tested positive for the contagion.

Dr Amandeep Kaur Kang, Director, Health Services, UT, said, “We have started testing patients coming to OPDs by counselling them to come forward for testing. This way, we will know the positivity rate among the patients coming to the OPDs. They are sick and hence fall under the high-risk group category. The positivity rate among the random population is quite low. As many as 118 samples were collected at a temple in Sector 20 and all of them tested negative.”

Besides, the department has directed that asymptomatic elderly and patients with comorbidities should be counselled for admission to hospitals instead of home isolation to prevent Covid fatalities.

200 oximeters issued

The UT Administrator said stringent checking and testing would continue in the festive season. As many as 200 pulse oximeters have been issued to each zonal head to be given to elderly comorbid patients in home isolation. The UT has made special arrangements to deploy extra teams in OPDs for Covid testing.

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