Bogged down by delays in test results, the State government has directed laboratories to prioritise swab samples of people showing symptoms of COVID-19 over asymptomatic suspected cases.
C.N. Manjunath, director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, who is the nodal officer of laboratories and testing in the State’s COVID-19 taskforce said that testing for symptomatic cases needs to be done first. “This is so that if people who are symptomatic need medical intervention, they are taken to the hospital quickly,” he said.
The positivity rate of people who are symptomatic is higher than asymptomatic cases. According to the State COVID-19 war room, the positivity rate in the last one week - among symptomatic cases is 32.4%, while it is 11.7% in asymptomatic cases.
Mr. Manjunath explained that the decision was taken as the State government has decided to increase the number of tests conducted per day. He said that although they had increased the number of laboratories in the State to 110 and improved infrastructure and manpower, delay in getting test results was inevitable as the government wants to conduct around 70,000 tests per day across the State.
While many people in Bengaluru have had to wait for close to a week to get their results, the delay in getting results is not as long in other districts. So far, over 28 lakh tests have been conducted across the State.
Delays render contact tracing futile
Many officials who are part of contact tracing teams in Bengaluru point out that the delay in getting the test results often makes the contact tracing exercise futile. “We have been told to diligently trace contacts even though the number of COVID-19 cases are spiking by the day. When we trace contacts, we have observed that many of those who tested positive had passed on the virus to other people after they gave the swab test and were waiting for their results,” said an official, who is monitoring contact tracing efforts in Bengaluru.
The official also said that although the BBMP had made repeated attempts to tell those who give swabs to remain in isolation till they received the test results, people are not complying with them.
“Citizens wait for a day or two. If they do not get their results, they venture out thinking they have tested negative. If the test results are given within two days, they can remain in isolation. This will reduce the number of people they have infected, thereby reducing the number of COVID-19 cases in the State,” he added.
