PALPA: The district of Palpa in State 5 is currently grappling with the coronavirus testing kit shortage as the number of people entering the district from India has been increasing every day.

Tuk Prasad Bhattarai, Palpa Help Desk Coordinator, says test for coronavirus has been suspended since Monday.

People evacuated from Nepal-India border points are deprived of the test at the moment.

As many as 450 citizens entered the district in the past three days.

Swab collection and Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) were continued till Sunday, but the processes have been paused since Monday.

Bhattarai said that the situation has forced them to hand over the rescued population to respective local levels without test.

Meanwhile, District Public Health Office, Palpa Officiating Chief Bishwanath Bhattarai admitted that there was shortage of kits to continue test.

He said earlier they had 1,000 kits for RDT and 450 for PCR test. The existing stock, he said, is limited and they require it for emergency purpose.

According to District Administration Office’s Information Officer, Yagyeshwor Panthi, since the month of Chaita, RDT results of 551 people and PCR reports of 79 samples have come negative and the PCR reports of 170 are awaited.