SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, April 5: With the release of the last two patients from the hospital on Monday evening, Dhanbad has now joined the club of Covid patient free districts of the state.
Integrated Diseases Surveillance Programme (IDSP) officer of district Dr Rajkumar Singh said that till April 4, only two cases were under treatment in hospital. After their recovery as well as discharge from the hospital Dhanbad has become Covid patient-free area. However, despite zero Covid patients, the test drives will continue.
The IDSP officer said that on Monday a total of 242 people were screened through RT-PCR ( 187), TruNat (3), and RAT (52) but all tests came negative.
“Though testing is continuing at Sadar hospital and Shahid Nirmal Mahto Medical College Hospital (SNMMCH), we do not force people to go through screening. Whoever comes at his will is tested,” said Dr Rajkumar Singh.
The IDSP officer said that now the health department is focused on vaccination and has pressed all energies to achieve the target. Dr Singh said that in the wake of the downfall of cases in the district, the outsourcing staff, who were hired for the special campaign, were released on March 31. “But in the new budget the health department is planning to engage them again for continuing comprehensive testing work,” he said.
He said the vaccination drive has started in schools and the health department assigned the concerned institution to carry it out.
Dr Singh admitted that Dhanbad registered an influx of infected patients from out of the state. Particularly, positive Covid patients were found in a large number at Dhanbad railway station and Chirkunda, Maithon check-post of Jharkhand- Bengal Border. He said that the health department would request the railway management to manage the checking of passengers at the Dhanbad railway station so that infected outsiders of the district could be filtered out.
He admitted that owing to heavy protest against testing from selected passengers, the health department had to stop screening at Dhanbad station.
