SHILLONG: The Centre has approved setting up of a testing centre for COVID-19 at Tura Civil Hospital and it will be functional by the end of this month while the go-ahead for one at Nazareth Hospital here is still awaited.
Informing this here on Friday, Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong also said that the government is contemplating to install another testing machine at Pasteur Institute.
As for the use of rapid test kits (RTK), he said that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has asked the state not to use these for now.
“We will receive a fresh lot by tomorrow. We will wait for the directive of the ministry before using the kits”, Tynsong said.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma, said the government is on track to increase the testing capacity of the state adding though it will take time as the matter is not easy.
To a query whether testing so far has not been enough for a state with a population of more than 33 lakh, he said not all are required to be tested.
For instance, Sangma said that one cannot expect the entire 130 crore population of India to be tested.
“The important point is that the secondary contact, primary contact and the immediate circles will have to be tested. We need to be very strategic in the way we test and that is how the world is going and that is how we are going to move forward”, Sangma said.
