A team of district health department on Saturday carried out on-the-spot rapid antigen tests on shoppers at Sakchi, a commercial hub of Jamshedpur, in an effort to track new cases and gauge the extent of the spread of the coronavirus.
The team, accompanied by administrative officials and police, zeroed in on two entrances to Sakchi market, one close to Payal Cinema and the other near Sakchi roundabout.
The drive which began at 10.30 am continued till late in the afternoon in which shoppers and those coming to the market were stopped and made to undergo the test under the supervision of the new Dhalbum SDO, Nitish Singh, and special officer of Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) Krishna Kumar.
"The drive was carried out to detect Covid positive cases. Rapid antigen tests were conducted at different housing societies. We selected Sakchi as the market witnesses a rush," said Kumar.
Notably, the East Singhbhum district health department is carrying out rapid antigen tests for detection of Covid-19 both in rural and urban areas for the last couple of days on a large scale.
In Jamshedpur, 16 sample collection-cum-test centres have been earmarked for the rapid antigen tests, while 100 similar centres have been set up in the rural areas of the district.
About 380 medical personnel, including doctors and technicians, are involved in the drive.
Health department sources revealed that a similar on-the-spot rapid antigen test drive would be conducted simultaneously at Bistupur and Golmuri markets on Sunday.
