The Kallakurichi district administration has rolled out a mobile COVID-19 testing van and deployed it in containment zones to speed up screening of people showing symptoms of viral infection.
Equipped with testing kits, the remodelled van has a lab technician, an assistant and one person to disinfect the vehicle after every trip. The mobile lab will collect samples for SARS-CoV-2 infection in the containment zones in Kallakurichi, Ulundurpet, Sankarapuram and Chinna Salem where positive cases have been reported.
District Collector Kiran Gurrala said: “The remodelled vehicle will serve as an alternative to a kiosk at a health facility. The mobile testing vehicle has an advantage in that there will not be transfer of sick and suspected patients in the vehicle. This will also ensure that there is no mix up of positive and negative cases. The facility will prevent cross infection.”
The staff on the mobile lab will start testing samples of people showing symptoms such as influenza and those with high-risk co-morbidity in the containment areas from Sunday. The throat swabs will be taken at the locality. The samples will be sent to the Villupuram Government Medical College and Hospital at Mundiyambakkam for results. This will ensure that the persons were kept under strict home quarantine till the results were known.
People who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection will be brought to the isolation ward in the Villupuram Government Medical College Hospital or the Kallakurichi Government Hospital in a separate ambulance. The mobile testing van would be disinfected every time while leaving the premises and the containment zones, Mr. Gurrala said.
The State government had already sanctioned a separate testing facility for the Kallakurichi Government Hospital, which would soon start testing, Mr. Gurrala added.
