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At least 13 people come into close contact with people infected with Covid-19, shows a study conducted by the Ministry of Health and Population. The result means that the other 13 should be tested for each positive case to contain the spread of the virus.
However, the Ministry of Health has not even implemented its decision to continue tracing contacts and provide free tests to those who have come into contact with the infected.
“As the government decided to provide free tests only to those with symptoms of Covid-19, contact tracing has not been resumed,” Dr. Roshan Pokhrel, chief specialist at the Ministry of Health, told the Post. “The cabinet decision needs to be changed to allow us to resume contact tracing.”
The Ministry of Health on Monday had decided to resume the search for contacts, which was interrupted according to the government decision of 5 October, following strong backlashes from various parties. But it still has to do it.
The cabinet meeting had decided to test and provide free care only to those who cannot afford to pay and to single women, the disabled, frontline health workers, security personnel and housekeeping. The decision was carried out by the Ministry of Health starting from 17 October.
According to the results of the study by the Ministry of Health, more than 40,000 tests should be performed every day, as the number of positive cases per day averages around 3,000.
However, only around 10,000 tests are conducted each day.
What is more alarming is that private labs run more tests than state-owned ones.
Of the 13,144 polymerase chain reaction tests conducted on Wednesday, 7,450 tests were performed by private laboratories. With the government deciding to suspend free testing and contact tracing, state labs have stopped receiving samples in the numbers they were used to in the past.
The National Public Health Laboratory, which can test over 3,500 samples per day, tested only 451 on Wednesday. The laboratory at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Hospital, which can test over 600 tests per day, only tested 127.
On Tuesday, the number of tests in the two laboratories was even lower: 168 from the National Public Health Laboratory and 113 from the Sukraraj hospital laboratory.
Dr. Pokhrel admits that because contact tracing is not resumed, labs do not receive samples and people seek treatment only when their situation becomes critical. “Isolation facilities and assigned beds for moderately ill Covid-19 patients are becoming vacant,” Pokhrel said. “But the number of deaths is on the rise as people seek treatment only when they become seriously ill.”
When patients become critical, they require intensive care and ventilatory support, already occupied by other patients.
Public health experts say the government’s policy of not providing free treatments and tests is responsible for more infections and deaths. “The government should take responsibility for saving people’s lives from the pandemic,” said Dr. GD Thakur, former director of the Division of Epidemiology and Disease Control. “Many people will die if the decision to stop the free test and treatment is not corrected.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Population said it had ordered all health agencies to keep track of the health conditions of infected people, who are in serious condition and have pre-existing conditions, and to refer them to hospitals in time.
However, health workers serving locally complained that infected people stopped cooperating with them after the government decided not to provide free tests and treatment.
“We have issued a circular to all health agencies across the country to monitor patients’ health conditions and refer them to hospitals if their health conditions deteriorate,” added the chief specialist of the Ministry of Health Pokhrel. “If the patient goes to the hospital on time, he can receive oxygen and other treatments on time.”
Doctors, however, are skeptical of the decision. Of the 34,905 active cases in the country, about 29,000 are in home isolation.
“Given the size of infected people in home isolation and the degree of severity by officials, it will be naive to believe that the decision to monitor the health of infected people will be implemented,” a Health Ministry official said, asking not to be named. .
As of Friday, 188,883 people across the country have tested positive for Covid-19 with 1,070 deaths. In the past 24 hours, 2,909 new cases with 18 deaths have been detected, according to the Ministry of Health.
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