Concerned About Coronavirus Outbreak In Delhi? Here Is How And Where You Can Get Tested

Since Monday, when the Union Health Ministry confirmed that three new cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) have been reported in India, which has further gone up to 30 on Thursday, there is a lot of confusion and misinformation around it.

One of the most asked questions is how to identify if someone has coronavirus. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to find it out.

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However, if you have recently traveled to parts of the world where infection rates are high or was in contact with someone who has traveled to one of those areas, you have to watch out for the following symptoms of infection: Fever Cough Shortness of breath Sore throat.

But only a lab test will confirm whether you have Covi-19 or not. And there is no specific test kit to identify the virus. It should also be noted that not every laboratory can conduct the test.

AFP

Specimens collected from suspected patients will be tested at the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Delhi, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)¡¯s laboratories at Alappuzha, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai, besides the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. All these labs are work under the guidance of NIV.

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan had said that as of now there are 15 such labs in India and 19 more will be made operational soon. In Delhi, people who came from China after 15 January can get themselves testes at six labs including one at AIIMS.

Screening of patients can also be done at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital.

In Maharashtra, the Kasturba Hospital, Navi Mumbai and Rajiv Gandhi Medical College in Nagpur have the laboratory facility.

Only NIV can perform blood tests for the novel virus while a dozen newly identified laboratories across the country can do the swab test.

In Bengaluru, State-Level Virus Research and Diagnostics Laboratory (VRDL) in the Victoria Hospital is equipped with the facility and in Kolkata. In Kolkata, following the report of some suspected cases, the Beliaghata ID Hospital has been equipped to tests the patients.

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The tests include:

A swab test: The lab will take a special cotton swab and sample the inside of the throat or nose.

A nasal aspirate: The lab will inject a saline solution into your nose, then remove the sample with gentle suction.

A tracheal aspirate: A thin, lighted tube called a bronchoscope goes into your lungs, where a sample will be collected.

A sputum test: Sputum is a variation of mucus from your lungs that can be coughed out or sampled from the nose with a swab.

A blood test.