The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) with the concerted efforts of the state health department has started full-fledged rapid antigen tests for coronavirus on a particular section of people that include housemaids visiting senior citizens, construction workers, e-rickshaw drivers and shopkeepers.
The emphasis is on these particular groups, according to sources in NKDA, since their movement outside the house is more and are likely to come in contact with several other people daily.
These groups, thus, have high chances of becoming spreaders of the virus. The township authorities have come up with a free testing centre at Action Area III. The testing centre was earlier being used as an e-health clinic to provide online consultation to the residents of the township.
The tests are being conducted every day between 10.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the results are being given within half an hour.
The results are also fed into the ICMR website from the centre. Booking of appointments is also enabled through the 24×7 New Town Helpline at 1800-103-7652. Considering the outbreak of the pandemic and norms of social distancing, the NKDA and West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (HIDCO) are also encouraging to download a form from their web site – https://www.wbhidcoltd.com/ uploads/announcement/Ann 841.pdf and report to the testing centre after pre-filling to save time at the testing centre.
The NKDA and HIDCO are especially giving particular attention to the elderly citizens of New Town, during the pandemic. The township authorities have released a directory of a list of about 560 senior citizens staying in New Town. “The database has been prepared by collating existing lists with Swapna Bhor, Sanjhbati of Bidhannagar Commissionerate and Resident Welfare Associations,” informed an official of NKDA.
“Also, as the elderly are more vulnerable to the virus, their domestic help is being sent for rapid testing to prevent the senior citizens from coming in contact with Covidpositive persons,” he added.