BAGLUNG, April 12: A rapid diagnostic test (RDT) carried out in 503 people suspected of carrying the coronavirus has shown negative.
RDT began in Balgung from Thursday, after the district was put under the red zone. So far all the results are negative, said District Health Office Chief Suraj Gurau. All the people who were tested had returned home from abroad recently.
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As per the directive of the Health Ministry, all the people living in the area where the infected persons lived, those who came in physical contact with them and those returning from abroad are being tested. As of Monday, 971 people will be tested in 10 local levels of the district, Gurau said. Of the tested, ten per cent will have their throat swab collected to check for Corona Virus. The RDT is being held in the quarantine centres set up by the local level units at different parts of the district.
The RDT kit gives results in just 15 minutes. Anyone showing positive will have his/her swab sent for re-testing at the Provincial Public Health Laboratory in Pokhara. Baglung was categorized under the high risk zone after two people were found infected in the district.
A 19-year-old girl of Baglugn municipality-4 and 65-year-old woman of ward no. 3 are currently undergoing treatment at the Dhaulagiri Zonal Hospital. The condition of both are reported to be normal. Both had arrived Nepal from Belgium via a Qatar Airways flight.
