M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, May 25: The Covid 19 testing lab has again started functioning in the Medinirai Medical College Hospital at Pokhraha in Daltonganj. RTPCR tests are now being done from 9 am to 5 pm.
This lab was shut on May 20 as it had no consumables and MMCH had no funds to buy them.
As a result of the shutdown, 1000 samples of the nasopharyngeal swab for the RTPCR got choked here for testing.
According to the MMCH principal Dr Shailendra Kumar, the samples of swabs were kept in the deep freezer.
According to sources, right from the Jharkhand Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh to the Additional Chief Secretary (health) Arun Kumar Singh, Secretary Vinay Choubey to Chief Minister Hemant Soren along with Mission Director of National Rural Health Mission Aditya Kumar Anand, everyone took immediate cognizance of the closure of the lab here and worked out a plan to keep it functioning uninterruptedly.
According to sources, a fund of Rs 30 lakh lying with this medical college for equipment and upliftment has finally come as a financial saviour to bring this Covid testing facility out of inaction.
On the question of why the lab was shut, putting the swab samples at stake if the fund was available, sources in the medical college explained that it was specifically for the equipment and upliftment of the college but it had no clear word on the purchase of the consumables and that put a brake on the management’s decision.
They said at a time like this, no management can dare to digress the fund fearing slapping of the charge of improper and irregular management of financial propriety.
When the state government asked this medical college here to utilise the funds lying and available for the consumables, then the medical college went for the purchase of the consumables.
Sources said the principal of the medical college and his team too had the will and plan to get this lab going only when the fund crisis does not hit it.
Finally, on May 24, the Covid testing lab reopened in the afternoon. The man who brought consumables from Ranchi arrived in the afternoon and within a short period, it became active again with medical activities the same afternoon.
On the first half-day of the reopening, 148 samples were tested for RTPCR and reports were readied and sent to the MMCH Daltonganj.
Palamu district epidemiologist Dr Anup Kumar Singh said the report of the RTPCR test of the 148 samples is Covid-19 negative which is a great matter of relief.
About half a dozen lab technicians and two data operators who work here in the lab are determined to test all the 1000 stocked samples in all precision and finesse in the stipulated period.
Principal Dr Shailendra Kumar said, “We will be accepting a new lot of samples of the swab as well for the RTPCR test.”
The lab has consumables now which will last for 10 days.
Commenting upon this, the medical college sources said there will not be any difficulty in having consumables from Ranchi to keep this lab going.
Notably, the Mayor of the Medinirai Municipal Corporation Aruna Shankar also visited the MMCH Daltonganj on Tuesday and expressed her concern over the closure of this Covid 19 lab.
