Mangaluru: In a move to determine the extent of the spread of Covid-19 locally, especially in pockets reporting high number of cases, Dakshina Kannada district administration is all set to initiate booth level testing in nine mapped areas from July 13. The mapped areas include eight wards in Mangaluru City Corporation and urban local body areas of Ullal, Bantwal and Puttur. The testing will be preceded by a short intense training session.
Deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh told TOI that the survey will follow the three Ts – tracing, tracking and testing — through block level committees set up for the purpose. The booth level officers used for election duties aided by teachers, ASHA workers, local volunteers and a beat policeman will be entrusted with this task to ensure that vulnerable persons are isolated at homes.
The move will also usher in greater community participation in controlling the pandemic, said MJ Roopa, additional DC. Training will be imparted to around 300 volunteers who during the survey will be suitably clothed in PPEs, carry pulse oximeters to check oxygen saturation levels and also stress on the need to isolate the vulnerable, especially the elderly at home, Roopa said.
The urban development department on Thursday issued a detailed eight-page note on how the ward level task force will operate in urban local bodies across the state. The BLCs will function under these ward committees and coordinate with resident welfare associations. People with influenza like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness will be identified as part of the survey and directed to undergo health check-up, she said.
A call on using the newly acquired rapid antigen test kits during the survey will be taken and a detailed SOP will be drafted for it shortly, Sindhu said. “There are issues on what should be done if persons test positive with this test and means of scientifically disposing the test kits that the field survey team will use,” the DC said. A RTPCR test that is the gold standard for Covid-19 detection will have to follow a positive report with rapid antigen test, she said.
Deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh told TOI that the survey will follow the three Ts – tracing, tracking and testing — through block level committees set up for the purpose. The booth level officers used for election duties aided by teachers, ASHA workers, local volunteers and a beat policeman will be entrusted with this task to ensure that vulnerable persons are isolated at homes.
The move will also usher in greater community participation in controlling the pandemic, said MJ Roopa, additional DC. Training will be imparted to around 300 volunteers who during the survey will be suitably clothed in PPEs, carry pulse oximeters to check oxygen saturation levels and also stress on the need to isolate the vulnerable, especially the elderly at home, Roopa said.
The urban development department on Thursday issued a detailed eight-page note on how the ward level task force will operate in urban local bodies across the state. The BLCs will function under these ward committees and coordinate with resident welfare associations. People with influenza like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness will be identified as part of the survey and directed to undergo health check-up, she said.
A call on using the newly acquired rapid antigen test kits during the survey will be taken and a detailed SOP will be drafted for it shortly, Sindhu said. “There are issues on what should be done if persons test positive with this test and means of scientifically disposing the test kits that the field survey team will use,” the DC said. A RTPCR test that is the gold standard for Covid-19 detection will have to follow a positive report with rapid antigen test, she said.
