Kathmandu May 3.

Rukum East, a district in State 5 is facing a problem in carrying out the COVID-19 testing due to a shortage of Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) kits. The test has ceased for the past two weeks due to the non-availability of kits. So far, a total of 162 people have entered the district from India and other third countries in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of people entering the district from other districts is above 1,000. The State government has supplied only 160 testing kits to the district. According to District Public Health Office, Rukum, to date, 129 people returned home recently from abroad have undergone the RDT and they all tested negative. The antibody test of remaining others has not been possible due to a short supply of the kits. Office officiating chief Yadav Prasad Sharma said they had requested the state government to provide more testing kits.