SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, June 18: Amid a rise in COVID-19 cases and a growing number of people seeking tests, Dr. S.K. Chourasia, Principal of Shaheed Nirmal Mahto Medical College Hospital (SNMMCH), Dhanbad, has written to the Director of the National Health Mission (NHM), requesting an immediate supply of testing kits.
In his letter, Dr. Chourasia highlighted the urgent requirement of 21 essential consumables for the RT-PCR lab at SNMMCH to ensure uninterrupted COVID-19 testing.
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A copy of the letter has also been sent to Dhanbad Civil Surgeon Dr. C.B. Pratapan. The requisition was made based on inputs from Dr. Sujit Tiwari, Head of the Department of Microbiology.
Dr. Chourasia stated that the hospital will soon begin COVID-19 testing using rapid antigen kits as a temporary measure.
Currently, a large number of people visit the SNMMCH outpatient department daily for COVID testing, but due to the unavailability of RT-PCR kits, many have to return without getting tested.
During the peak of the pandemic in 2020–21, SNMMCH served as a major testing and treatment hub for eight districts: Dhanbad, Giridih, Jamtara, Dumka, Deoghar, Sahibganj, Godda, and Pakur.
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Dr. Sujit Tiwari emphasized that while rapid antigen tests may sometimes produce false results, RT-PCR testing is considered 100% accurate and remains the gold standard for COVID-19 detection.
