Delayed Covid test results cause worry in few areas of Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Even though the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) claims that it has managed to decrease the time to provide Covid-19 test results, in some parts of the city people are still anxious about the delay. The reason is that some Primary Health Centers (PHCs) are taking longer than a day to send samples to laboratories.

However, BBMP officials stated that they are giving most results within 18 hours and earlier it used to take about 2-3 days. BBMP had conducted a review which indicated that some PHCs and private labs are taking more than a day to send the samples. Thursday’s data shows that the government hospitals and PHCs take an average of seven hours to collect the samples and send the same, whereas, the private establishments do it in four hours.

An official said, “After notices were served and few labs were closed down for not uploading the reports on the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) portal, private laboratories became more vigilant, but there was a delay among a few PHCs. But on the whole, the situation is better than before. There are a few PHCs that send the samples late and they are being pulled up for that. As of now, Bengalureans are getting a test report in a day or more than 24 hours, though the deadline is 24 hours.”

Dr. Suresh GK, deputy health officer (Bomanahalli zone), and a nodal officer for Covid testing are of the view that not all samples reaching late.

He stated, “Some samples which don’t have information are getting delayed as they can’t be uploaded on ICMR portal. Things have changed after we started monitoring as we were very particular about the time taken. As of now, a person who takes the test in Bengaluru will get the result in 18 hours. If there is a delay, it is because of lack of information that is necessary to upload on the portal.”