English
Chandigarh, September 25 – Taking another step to augment the testing facilities in Haryana, a new COVID-19 Molecular Laboratory was inaugurated at Uchana in Jind today. The laboratory was inaugurated in the presence of Haryana Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Dushyant Chautala by Haryana Health Minister, Mr. Anil Vij through video conferencing. Soon after the laboratory was inaugurated a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with a (Non-Government Organization) NGO named ‘Step-One’ so as to ensure proper care of Corona patients.
Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Dushyant Chautala and Health Minister, Mr. Anil Vij also released the revised Home Isolation Protocol today. He said that COVID-19 laboratory have been set up in 14 government hospitals and medical colleges in the state which are conducting 13,350 tests in one day. Likewise, around six private hospitals are being provided with the facility to conduct 5,620 tests. Besides this, the Department aims to set up similar laboratories in all the districts of the state. As a part of this, laboratories in Panipat, Yamunanagar and Bhiwani will be set up soon.
The Health Minister said that the state at present has 46,367 quarantine beds, while 3,486 Containment Zones, 10,145 isolation beds, 2,231 ICU beds, 1,070 ventilators, 3.78 lakh PPE kits and 7.25 lakh N-95 masks. Along with this, the state government has fixed prices for COVID-19 testing at private laboratories – Rs 2,400 has been fixed for RT-PCR Tests, Rs 650 for Rapid Antigen Tests and Rs 250 for ELISA Test. He further informed that rates have also been fixed for the facility of isolation beds, ICUs and ventilators in private hospitals for patients to prevent overcharging. In addition, plasma banks are functional in Faridabad, Gurugram, Panchkula, Rohtak and Karnal.
Lauding the Health Department for its consistent efforts, Mr. Chautala said that the work done by Health Department during the Corona is worth following by the rest of the country. He said that the Health Department will have to continue its work until the vaccine for the virus is not available. Along with this, he also asked to set up a similar laboratory in Dadri as well.
Additional Chief Secretary, Mr. Rajeev Arora said that the Health Department has set a target to establish such laboratories in each district, which will be completed soon. He said that facility of conducting other tests in all the district hospitals of the state will also be given to the patients, for which appropriate steps are being taken.
Representative of NGO Step-One, Mr. Suchin Bajaj said that he has more than 7,000 doctors, 2,000 medical students, nurses, and other volunteers, who are providing their services in 16 states. Apart from this, the NGO is also helping in the plasma bank of Gurugram and intends to render cooperation in Panchkula, Karnal and Faridabad districts.
On the occasion, Mission Director, National Health Mission Haryana, Mr. Prabhjot Singh, Director General of Health, Dr. S.B. Kamboj, and several officers were present.
