DHANGADI, JUNE 12

Sudurpaschim Province Health Directorate’s directive on rapid diagnostic test has created panic among people in the province.

The office of health directorate, in its directive states that people, who have stayed in quarantine facility for 14 days without showing any symptoms of COV- ID-19, will be sent home without RDT.

According to the directive, the province has 66,000 people in different quarantine facilities and the directive has been issued as the province does not have enough RDT kits to conduct COVID-19 tests. Signed by Director Dr Gunaraj Awasthi the directive stresses on home quarantine and home isolation due to lack of RDT kits for testing.

Director Awasthi said his office had issued the directive in consultation with all stakeholders considering rising number of COVID-19 cases. But, quarantined people are reluctant to go home without undergoing test for COVID-19. A man in quarantine of Kalika Basic School of Dhangadi Ward No-17 said he had tested positive on RDT for the virus.

“How can I go home without undergoing PCR test for COV- ID-19?” he asked. He feared doing so might put his family members at the risk of contracting the virus.

Kailali Chure Rural Municipality’s Chandra Singh feared that new guidelines mandating quarantined people to go home without COVID-19 test might spread the deadly virus in the community.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 13, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.