Over 1K corona samples to be tested daily in Agra

Agra : Authorities will now be able to ensure testing of over 1,000 suspected coronavirus samples daily in the city as the SN Medical College will start operating a True-Net machine that gives results within an hour or two, officials said on Sunday.

From Monday, 900 samples would be tested daily, not only from Agra but also Mathura, Firozabad, and Hathras.

It will help patients requiring emergency surgical interventions. Microbiology Department incharge said the medical college had adequate facilities to test more than 500 samples daily at present.

Presently, apart from the medical college, the National Jalma Institute for Leprosy & Other Mycobacterial Diseases is testing 400 samples on a daily basis.

JALMA Director Dr S.A. Patil said the testing capacity of his institution could soon go up to 700.

Meanwhile, with the death of a 62-year-old patient, the coronavirus death toll in Agra district reached 49. Till Sunday morning, 12 new corona cases were reported, taking the total tally to 957.

District Magistrate PN Singh the district now has 95 active cases, as 813 patients have recovered.

There has been a slight spurt in the number of corona cases in the past three days, but it was attributed to an increase in testing.