Satvik Pandey from Aliganj and his family members had given their samples for RT-PCR test however when they did not get their report, they decided to for a CT scan.

Satvik said that the CT scan showed his mother had the initial stage of COVID pneumonia and they started the medications. Residents of his colony who too had influenza-like symptoms continued to visit the grocery shops and vegetable markets. And when he told them that they should be in home isolation, they said that their test results are still awaited and they were not sure whether they were positive or not.

Experts also agree that delay in getting COVID-19 test results can contribute to the high transmission rate that is being witnessed this month. The three government-aided pathology laboratories in the city are taking almost 3-7 days for reports. Several private laboratories are also taking a minimum of 48 hours for reports due to limited resources. Few of them are not even taking more samples than their regular capacity.

The three government-aided labs at KGMU, SGPGIMS and RMLIMS together have conducted more than 25,000 RT-PCR tests per day but as the number of samples collected daily is more than 30,000, there is a huge backlog causing delay in reports. The number of private laboratories that are authorised to conduct COVID tests have increased from 17 to 24 in this week. These laboratories are conducting more than 5,000 tests daily.

More than 5,000 cases per day are reported in the last 2 weeks. An infected person can pass on the virus to five people at least. More cases daily mean that five times more people require testing every day. A senior health official said that they are not able to test many people daily as it creates a backlog and results are delayed. This provides time for an infected asymptomatic person to spread the infection. They are increasing the capacity of government laboratories and also authorising more private labs. As the volume of cases is very high, facilities are taking time to meet the demand.

Dr Manodeep Sen, a microbiologist at RMLIMS, said that it has been seen that many who get infected and are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, in spite of being advised to stay in isolation, take the matter very casually till their report confirms positive. Delay in reports for 3-5 days makes such people super spreaders.

Sarvendra Chauhan, aged 32 years, who is a resident of Rae Bareli Road, gave his samples on 19th April but the report was pending till Monday evening. He said that he started COVID medication but don’t know exactly about his ailment. He further said that in case his condition deteriorates, no hospital will admit him without an RT-PCR test report.

Source: ET Healthworld