Shortage of kits: Coronavirus antigen tests halted at Birgunj border points

Birgunj, May 25

The antigen tests of the Nepalis entering Nepal via Birgunj from India has been stopped for sometime now due to the shortage of antigen kits.

The health desk set up nearby Shankaracharya Gate in Birgunj had been conducting antigen tests of around 25 Nepalis entering Nepal via Birgunj on a daily basis, Saimul Ansari, the health desk in charge, tells Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS).

Saimul shares, “We just check the temperature of those entering Nepal due to the lack of the antigen kits. If people show Covid-19 symptoms, we send them to their respective hometowns for staying in isolation.”

Also, the health desk set up by the metropolis in the customs area has also run short of antigen kits. The shortage was due to the Parsa District Public Health Office delaying the dispatch of the kits, according to Birgunj Mayor Bijaya Sarawagi.

The collection of nasal and throat swabs at health desks has stopped although Nepalis are returning home from neighbouring India on pick-up trucks as the second wave of Covid-19 cases has been on the surge in both Nepal and India.

Comments