Kathmandu, June 2
Under the immense pressure of an increasing number of people returning home from India, district officials in Dailekh of Karnali have decided to send those quarantined to their homes on the basis of the results of rapid diagnostic tests for coronavirus, without conducting polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
Officials have complained that obtaining the PCR test results takes a long time as the number of quarantined people goes on increasing. The number has already exceeded the capacity of facilities available in the district.
Around 70,000 people of Dailekh are said to be working in India. Of them, 10,000 have already returned and are quarantined. Officials estimate that the number could go as high as 40,000.
Therefore, the officials decided to send the people who test negative in the RDT home so that the new returnees get space in quarantine facilities, according to Chief District Officer Yuba Raj Kandel. He says the federal government has also consented to the decision.
“If we are to send them home only after the PCR tests, where shall we keep the new people?” he asks, “We cannot add any new person in that case.”
Earlier on Monday, some of the quarantined had demonstrated against ill-management of the venues, fearing the quarantine venues could turn into infection hotspots.
