Inadequate testing centres take up fewer samples in Gurugram

GURUGRAM: For the last six days, there has been no new case reported in Gurugram, which has a population of 25 lakh residents.

Taking account of a substantially large population, questions are being raised whether more tests are being conducted. On Monday, 29 samples were collected by the health department. Sources claim that the number of samples being collected has reduced from 50 in the early days of March to only 25 on an average.

Till March 30, only 365 samples had been collected and 6,003 persons were screened. One of the major reasons for taking fewer samples is inadequate testing centres in the city.

There is no government testing facility in Gurugram. Testing is being done in only two private laboratories. Earlier, the samples had to be sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune for testing. Along with this, samples were also subsequently being sent to PGIMS, Rohtak.

According to health officials, there are plans to open more laboratories for testing. Most of them will be handled by the private players.

"We are trying to increase the facilities for testing. There are plans to open more testing centres in the city," said Dr. JS Punia, the Chief Medical Officer Gurugram Health Department.

The Gurugram agencies have tried to ensure that more isolation centres and quarantine facilities are being added in the city. Over 392 rooms in various five-star-hotels are being used for paid quarantine facilities.

The largest isolation wards have been created in the Government College in Sector-9 followed by the SGT College, which has a total capacity of 300 beds. Beds with a capacity of 100 each have also been set up at Bhangrola Village and SCERT centre.

Additionally, the capacity of beds has also been increased in the government hospital in Sector-10 and private hospitals in Gurugram.