Kolkata: Three new coronavirus suspects at ID Hospital, another tests H1N1 positive – Times of India

Kolkata News
KOLKATA: Three new Covid-19 suspects were admitted to ID Hospital on Wednesday. Kept in the isolation ward, their swab samples will soon be sent for confirmatory test. Meanwhile, the swab sample of another suspect in the hospital tested positive to swine flu but negative to coronavirus.
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“The swab samples of the man from Murshidabad tested negative to coronavirus but positive to swine flu. The patient is getting treated for H1N1 at our isolation ward,” said Anima Haldar, ID Hospital principal.

The person from Murshidabad had returned from Saudi Arabia a few days ago. He was taken to the state’s nodal hospital for coronavirus after he complained of cough and cold. Right from the beginning, doctors at the hospital suspected it to be an H1N1 infection. But taking no chances, his swab samples were tested for both coronavirus and swine flu.
Even as confirmed coronavirus case in India is on the rise, Bengal has so far been able to keep Covid-19 at bay. All 45 samples collected from suspects so far have tested negative to the virus. But with new cases being reported from other cities daily, the state health department is on high alert to combat the virus.
From 92 isolation beds to keep suspects and treat confirmed cases, the state government has now scaled up the number to 163 across 26 state-run hospitals. Private hospitals, too, have made provision for isolation beds.
So far, ICMR-NICED has been testing samples of all suspects from the state. Out of the three samples collected during the day, one sample was sent to IPGMER. This is the first sample to be tested at the lab at the state-run hospital. “Very soon, another lab at the School of Tropical Medicine will start testing samples of Covid-19 suspects,” said a health department source.
On Wednesday, state health officials held a video-conference with the Union health secretary on monitoring the screening of people using the land border to cross over to Bengal from Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/3-new-suspects-at-id-hosp-another-tests-h1n1-positive/articleshow/74584723.cms