Nagaland Covid-19 update: 69 samples return negative, 1 awaits result

Dimapur, April 10 (EMN): Nagaland has not recorded any novel coronavirus (Covid-19) case till date with all the results of samples sent for testing returning negative, informed Principal Secretary, Home, Abhijit Sinha in an update on Friday.

“I would like to inform that, as at 5:00 pm today (April 10), a total of 70 samples of suspected cases have been sent from testing. The results of 69 samples have been received and they are all negative. The result of the remaining one sample is awaited,” read Sinha’s statement on the status of Covid-19 in Nagaland.

“A total of 5317 persons have signed up till now in the nCovid-19 Nagaland App where 3692 persons have self declared their details and 1625 are with incomplete details.  I would like to inform that the current users can update to the new version 3.0 of the App with the same ID,” he added.

He went on to inform that the position of availability of food grains, medicines, POL and other essential goods and commodities continues to be normal in the state.

The principal secretary expressed gratitude to civil society organisations and NGOs in the state for coming forward and providing assistance to the district administration and police in implementing lockdown measures as well as assisting in distribution of relief materials to daily wage earners and the needy at various locations.

He also requested “everyone to stay home, and come out only when it is unavoidable for buying essential goods and commodities”.

According to the department of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of people screened (transporters/ cargo movement; intra/ inter district movement) in the state as of 4 pm on April 10 was 766, with Kohima leading at 163, followed by Dimapur (160), Wokha (140), Mokokchung (118), Tuensang (80), Zunheboto (45), Phek (35), Kiphire (14) and Mon (11), while Longleng and Peren registered nil.

The number of persons currently on home quarantine is 606, and those at facility quarantine is 20, while 5170 persons were out of home quarantine, the department informed.

The directorate of Health and Family Welfare has also rubbished rumours being spread on social media platforms, stating that collection and transportation of samples for Covid-19 test are done in compliance with the norms set by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the WHO.

“The Samples are collected using all precautions from the designated district collection centres by trained health personnel. They are packed using triple packaging system and transported in Viral Transport Medium (VTM) at temperature of 2-3 degree Celsius,” read a statement sent by Principal Director of Health and Family Welfare Department, Nagaland, Dr. Vizolie Z Suokhrie. It added that “till date, all the samples sent by the state have been certified to be in good condition by the designated laboratories”.

The department went on to say that samples can be stored for 48-72 hours but for Nagaland, it takes less than six hours between sample collection and receipt at laboratory. If there is an delay in testing by the designated laboratory, the samples can be stored at -20 degree celsius for one week or can be preserved at -70 degree celsius for extended periods, it added.

The department also thanked the ICMR designated laboratories at Regional Research Centre, Dibrugarh; JNIMS, Imphal; and Guwahati Medical College for sending the results of samples from Nagaland within 24 hours.