The Salem Corporation has started a drive-in COVID-19 swab testing facility near the Salem new bus stand.
According to Corporation officials, as part of measures to create awareness among the public about COVID-19 and to increase swab sample collection, a drive-in RT-PCR testing facility has been set up near the new bus stand. Salem Corporation Commissioner N. Ravichandran launched the centre on Monday along with City Health Officer K. Parthibhan and other senior officials.
Mr. Ravichandran said, “The new bus stand is a place visited by people from all parts of the city and district and easily accessible. People can just drive in to the centre and give swab samples for tests. The centre will function between 7 a.m and 9 p.m and medical teams are available at the spot for doing the tests.”
He added that there has been an increase in containment zones in the Salem Corporation limits and sufficient containment measures have been set up.
Health officials said that the drive-in facility would facilitate easy swab collection for persons planning to undergo tests for various purposes like inter-state travel and others. Officials said that it would also help them identify infected areas as people from different parts of the district would undergo tests here.
The Salem Corporation is planning to increase swab collection in its limits from Tuesday and is planning to collecting 1,500-2,000 samples a day.
Since January, about 54,513 swab samples have been collected for tests and the Corporation has increased swab collection centres to 48 places.
