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As per the federal government's decision to test COVID-19 in each state, State 1 has started testing throat swab to find whether a person has contracted COVID-19. The test began at BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), Dharan.
The microbiology laboratory of BPKIHS has technical and human resources required to test for the coronavirus, informed Dr Ashok Air, Deputy Spokesman of the famed teaching hospital of State 1. "We have around 15 technical experts and can test around 20 throat swab in a day," he said, adding, "If we get swabs from other labs of the State, we have the capacity to test around 80 samples a day." He said, earlier it had taken at least a week to get the results of previous tests from the federal capital Kathmandu. "We will test all possible suspected throat swabs in the days ahead," stated Dr. Air.
Until Saturday, BPKIHS has sent 25 throat swabs to the National Laboratory of Teku, Kathmandu. Of which 16 have tested negative and other test results are awaited. According to Dhiren Limbu, Head of Microbiology Department at Dharan-based Central Campus of Technology, it takes around 4 to 5 hours for the results. "The test is carried out based on the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) which is easily detected in the advanced laboratory of BPKIHS," Limbu said.
