Be a chain breaker of coronavirus by coming forward for testing: Balbir Singh Sidhu

Going ahead with a strategy to control the spread of coronavirus, the Health department Ludhiana has now initiated a mobile testing drive in the Ludhiana city for which exclusive vans with special teams have been arranged which will test the people at their doorstep in different areas of the city. With the introduction of these mobile teams, people can get themselves tested right at their doorstep. Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said that as cases of COVID-19 are increasing in Ludhiana, aggressive testing is the best strategy to detect the hidden cases. As it is these hidden cases who are currently the reason behind the rapid spread of COVID-19. Besides Ludhiana, the mobile testing drive was also being conducted in Amritsar and soon it would also be initiated in Patiala to scale up the testing facility. Sidhu said that although asymptomatic people are also being detected positive, there is dire need to expedite the sampling to differentiate the COVID positive and negative people. Therefore it becomes more important to test them so that any COVID positive person doesn't spread the virus to other people. However, the Punjab Government has amended the guidelines regarding home isolation according to the need and comfort of citizens. Moreover as per new guidelines of the government if anyone is tested positive and is asymptomatic or mild symptomatic such persons need not go to the hospital and they can stay in home isolation as per guidelines. Also Read | Punjab for review of NEET, JEE (Main) exams, seeks support of other states The Minister further said that testing on rapid kits takes less than 30 minutes from taking the sample to giving the final report and sampling is free of cost. He appealed the people to come forward for testing and they should shed all their fears and myths regarding testing. Sampling is very important to break the chain of coronavirus. -PTC News