All lines of private labs are either diverted or defunct

| | Ranchi
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All lines of private labs are either diverted or defunct

Wednesday, 21 April 2021 | PNS | Ranchi

Oxygen cylinders and Remdesivir are not the only lifesavers Covid 19 patients and their family members are desperately searching for, since getting Covid test is equally difficult.

Pradeep Sarangi (28) a native of Ranchi along with three of his family members had to undergo treatment about 20 days back after they developed symptoms of Covid 19.

“Now we are okay and we are gradually feeling better. But we don’t know whether we have completely recovered from Covid 19 because we are unable to get appointments from any private laboratory for home sample collection,” said Sarangi.

Sarangi rued that they can’t visit any government testing centre because physically they are still very weak and they are very scared.

As the second wave of Covid 19, with deadly strains, started affecting people on a large scale, at the government run testing centres across the state testing reports remained pending to an extent that it was nearly impossible for the government to manage the situation amid rising numbers of cases.

The helpline numbers of some private labs were also circulated by the district administration. However, for private labs the state government fixed service charges but complaints of overcharging and fleecing were also reported.

“From the past couple of days; I have been calling these labs one by one. Once one of them picked my call. As I requested for an appointment to collect samples  from my home the call was disconnected. We are helpless, scared and disappointed. We are virtually going through a nightmare,” said Sarangi.

Krishna Kumar Mishra, a retired government official shared similar experience. Currently, under treatment at a central government run hospital he said that he is also waiting for the test report.

“If you are well connected and resourceful then you can get Covid test and the test report on time. About 10 days back I was hospitalized due to fever, shortness of breath and symptoms. While a sample was taken, the report is still pending,” said Mishra.Barun Kumar, a native of Ratu road too said that helpline numbers are of no use.

“Calling them is a complete waste of time. Based on symptoms my entire family is Covid 19 positive. We are taking medicines at home. Thrice I tried for a test at private labs but failed,” he said.A senior executive of a private lab said that they receive a minimum of 1700 calls on a day basis where people want home collection of samples.

“This is the figure of Ranchi district and you can imagine the number of calls we receive in other districts. Even if we work round the corner, we can’t visit all 1700 persons,” she said.

The lab executive who spoke to The Pioneer over the phone said that they are working under tremendous pressure and they have to ensure safety of staff.

She said that private labs are working in order to assist the government to fight the pandemic rather than to do business.                  

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