Amid community transmission fears, Punjab to roll out rapid viral testing at COVID-19 hotspots

Mobile vans would be sent to the COVID-19 hotspots in the state with these kits to check large number of people to find out whether there was a community spread of the disease or not.

Considering the urgency of the situation, the Health Department of Punjab has decided to float 12-hour tenders to invite companies to offer these rapid testing kits, which are much cheaper than the PCR kits used to confirm COVID-19.

“We were just waiting for the ICMR to allow us to do so. It has been allowed now. We will be able to provide the kits in mobile vans from tomorrow or day after tomorrow,” a government official said.

Punjab had reported 47 positive cases and 5 deaths as of Thursday. A few areas of the state are threatening to be COVID-19 hotspots.

The state had sealed 6 villages in Hoshiarpur and 18 villages in Nawanshahar, including Pathlawa village from where a 70-year-old man passed away due to COVID-19 and transmitted the infection to 28 others. Another man out of his contact list too succumbed to the disease. As many as 26,000 people have quarantined in the state.

Not a test for COVID-19

The kit is not a confirmatory test for COVID-19 but it detects antibodies inside humans if they have been infected with a virus. It is a broad test used for testing flu.

“In a situation like this where we must check all suspects, this kind of random testing kit would come handy. We could not have tested all village residents. At this stage, there is also no need to test 26,000 people. But we can randomly run this test on the entire population and then get an idea on what is going on,” the official said.

“The idea behind it is to get a fair idea. It is like a dip test. If large population tests positive on this kit, we can run them through confirmatory tests. One can then have a straight strategy instead of groping in the dark. Also, it is cheaper and it is fast. “

What triggered the move

Punjab has recently had case from Amarpura in Ludhiana where two women neighbours contracted the disease. One of them succumbed. They did not have any travel history. The government has sealed the area ever since. Testing of suspects is going on while family members of both the women have tested negative.

In another thickly populated village Jagatpura near Chandigarh, a person testing positive has raised the alarm bells for the government. Since a number of domestic helps in Chandigarh comes from this area, the government has been sent in a tizzy.

“With the kits we will be able to be at ease. In such cases, we will run random tests. It is like being austere on spending too much money on the PCR kits and adopt the poor man’s way.”