The Vashi Hospital of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has received permission to carry out COVID-19 testing by TrueNat. The civic hospital has also received the machine, and the testing is likely to begin by the end of the week. The machine can give reports within 60 to 90 minutes.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Nagpur has allowed the civic hospital Vashi to carry out TrueNat testing for COVID-19 after going through the proposal which was sent in April. The AIIMS had gone through the documents and quality control before allowing it.
“They assessed the facility including infrastructure, equipment, and trained staff at NMMC general hospital in Vashi,” said Dr Balasaheb Sonawane, the chief medical officer of NMMC. However, he added that as per the ICMR guidelines, confirmation for any positive test on TrueNat needs to be redone by Real-Time PCR test.
Dr. Sonawane said that we have already received the machine, and the training has started. “There will around two days of training after which the machine will be used for the test,” said Dr Sonawane.
This machine is primarily used for Tuberculosis test and this is helpful in COVID-19 tests. “If the report is negative, there is no problem. But, if there is a positive report, as per the ICMR guidelines, a lab test will be required to verify it,” said Dr Sonawane. He added that this could be a time consuming on some occasions.
Meanwhile, the civic administration has taken a couple of decisions to help citizens. Now, the civic body will provide five PPE kits to the deceased family to be used during cremation. Since many families cannot afford five PPE kits to buy and in that case the chance of spread of the virus will be very high.
Also, the civic body has made separate arrangements for maternity, COVID, and non-COVID patients. The civic body has already converted 8 NMMT buses into an ambulance and 10 buses will be converted for the same purposes. The civic body has also asked all the private hospitals to reserve 80 percent beads for COVID patients.
