BENGALURU: After a peak in August 2021, the number of Covid-19 tests conducted in the state had fallen gradually, but it again picked up in December with the onset of Omicron in late November.
However, a delay in RT-PCR tests — which account for 70% of overall tests — has squandered gains of increased testing.
Analysis of state Covid-19 war Room data for 158 labs t hat conduct RT-PCR tests in the state shows that at some labs, about 48% of results are delayed. Between January 1 a nd 9, these 158 labs together conducted more than 7. 8 lakh tests of which reports w ere delayed in 56,832 or a bout 7% of samples.
Munish Moudgil, head, state Covid War Room said: “The government is continuously monitoring the situation and is in touch with labs s o as to streamline testing.
” Data for tests done so far i n January shows that the l east time taken by a lab to confirm or disprove an infect ion is about two hours while t he most time taken is about 2 97 hours (12 days). While these are the worst a nd best-case scenarios, a deeper analysis shows that some of the labs testing a high number of samples h ave a better track record. F or instance, of the 158 labs, 6 1 have tested between 1,000 a nd 10,000 samples in the first nine days of January, a nd among these, 12 labs take less than 10 hours on average
to give results. The most time taken among these labs is 32 hours. Similarly, out of the 26 labs that have conducted between 10,000 and 20,000 tests in the said period, there are five who have an average turnaround of less than 10 hours per test, while the most time taken in this category is about 22 hours. There are five labs that have conducted more than 20,000 tests in January so far, and all of them have delivered results in less than a day. The most time taken by one lab is 19 hours and the least is eight hours.
Overall, from March 2020 to January 9, 2022, Karnataka has conducted nearly 5. 8 crore tests, mostly RT-PCR. In 2021, the state conducted more than 4.
2 crore tests, of which the highest number was done in August (more than 48. 2 lakh) and the least was in February (17. 6 lakh). Officials, while conceding that delays caused in some labs are a concern, pointed out that the target of 24 hours to give results is an arbitrary one set by the government.
“Even in countries like the US, labs take up to three days to give results. We have set an aggressive target of 24 hours given our population and the number of samples we may have to deal with, and most labs are meeting this target,” one official said. Another said that during the earlier peaks of the pandemic the government had incentivised early testing — private labs giving results within 24 hours were given 10% to 20% more as fees — which may return again as the number of cases increase and the need for high testing becomes necessary.
