Deputy Commissioner Mon, Thavaseelan K IAS has notified that in view of the arrival of stranded persons from different parts of the country and with mandatory institutional quarantine arrangements in place, all asymptomatic and symptomatic returnees to Mon District will be tested using the TrueNat machine.

The TrueNat system is now a comprehensive assay for screening and confirmation of COVID-19 cases. Pooled testing will be undertaken to test every single returnee starting from the 5th day of their institutional quarantine period in Mon District. Pooling of samples will be done up to a maximum of five at a time to increase the screening capacity and to avoid the effect of dilution leading to false negatives. A pooled testing algorithm involves the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) screening of a specimen pool comprising multiple individual specimens. This will be followed by individual testing (pool de-convolution) only if a pool screen tests positive. Random testing of samples will be used in parallel if there is an urgent need to test some returnees based on certain pre-defined parameters. The cartridges currently available in the District Hospital, Mon will be reserved for testing as per the latest Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Protocol. The COVID-19 District Task Force, Mon & the Empowered Group for COVID-19, Mon are in the process of purchasing a fully automatic real time quantitative micro PCR analyzer (two channel-three wavelength system) in addition to new cartridges to test about 5000 people who are likely to return in multiple batches to the district over the course of the next few months. The cartridges and the quantitative micro PCR analyzer are being sponsored by the Konyak Union (KU).

The entire district official machinery extended appreciation and gratitude to the KU, KBBB, KNSK and KSU for their continued support in bolstering the District's COVID-19 response strategy.

(DPRO, Mon)