By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Apr. 27:Swab collection and testing ratio of COVID-19 by the joint medical team of the Ministry of Health and Nepali Army has been increasing every day after the government managed supply of necessary kits and testing machines, according to the government sources.
“The government under the aegis of COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre-Operation (CCMC-Ops) has been conducting 2,000-3,000 tests (including both RDT and PCR) every day in the COVID-19 hit areas,” Joint Secretary and spokesperson of CCMC-OPs, Dr Bikash Devkota said at a press conference organised at CCMC-Ops on Sunday.
As of Sunday morning, the CCMC-Ops conducted RDT tests of 1,581 people and PCR tests of 364 people.
Based upon the coronavirus infected cases and locations, the joint medical team of the Ministry of Health and the NA have been giving priority to the test of the collected swabs, Dr Devkota said.
In Udayapur district of State 1, the government has so far tested the swab samples of 423 people residing in various places of the district, including Bhulke, according to Dr Devkota.
This week, the government will collect swabs of 337 people of the district.
In State 2, the government has a goal to collect swabs of 1,520 people and of them 1,027 had already been collected from 26 places of all eight districts (Bara, Parsa, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Siraha, and Saptari).
According to Dr Devkota, of the total COVID-19 infected people, half hail from Udayapur district as of today.
In the next round, the government has been aiming to conduct massive swab collection in State 5. Altogether 12 districts in State 5 could be another hotspot of COVID-19, he said.
A joint medical team of six different teams from the government and Nepali Army will reach Nawalparasi (Susta West), Palpa, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Arghakhanchi, Gulmi, Dang, Pyuthan, Rukum (east), Rolpa, Banke and Bardiya this week to collect swab samples of the people who returned from abroad, he said.
As of Saturday, the government had conducted PCR test of a total of 9,666 people across the country and 39,670 RDT tests.
Among the total RDT tests, the highest number was conducted in Sudurpaschim State with 10,204 tests and the lowest in State 5 with just 2,950 RDT tests, according to the CCMC-Ops.
Also in State 1, the government conducted RDT tests on 4,160 people, 5,044 in State 2, 7,467 in Bagmati State, 4,871 in Gandaki State, and 4,974 in Karnali State as of Saturday.
For increasing the swab collection and test of the people, the government has also imparted donning, doffing, and infection control and patient transfer team (PTT) training to 770 security staff members that include ambulance drivers, helpers and health workers of Nepali Army and the Armed Police Force (APF). Such training was given to 650 staff members of Nepali Army and 120 of APF.
From March 24 to April 26, the government had imported 91,456 metric tons of foods from India, 26,082 metric tons of cereals, 44,235 metric tons of green vegetables, 11,138 metric tons of fruits, 36,442 metric tons of LPG, 17,496 other kinds of fuels, Rs 258 million worth of raw materials for making medicines, and readymade medicines worth Rs 1.13 billion.
As of Saturday, a total of 14,731 people are in quarantine of the total 39,824 quarantine beds. Of the total 14,731 in quarantine, 87 are in isolation. Out of total quarantined people, 1,073 are Indian nationals while 2,020 Nepalis are in quarantine in India.
According to the CCMC, for effective implementation of the nationwide lockdown, the government has deployed 82,650 security forces. Of them, 42,012 are Nepal Police personnel, 31,155 APF, 7,486 Nepali Army and 1,997 from National Investigation Department.