After 2 different reports, woman tests negative in third test
The 44-year-old woman from Wagle Estate in Thane, who got contradictory Covid-19 reports from a civic-run laboratory and private laboratory, tested negative in her
The 44-year-old woman from Wagle Estate in Thane, who got contradictory Covid-19 reports from a civic-run laboratory and private laboratory, tested negative in her third test, validating the report of the private lab. The family has moved the woman home from the quarantine centre.

The family claimed they had to go through a lot after the report from the civic laboratory showed her to be positive for Covid-19 when, in fact, she was not infected.
The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), however, claimed it is common to get different results on different days depending on the viral load.
Earlier this week, Rekha Pawar was tested at Chhatrapati Shivaji Hospital, popularly known as Kalwa hospital. The following day, she got another Covid-19 test done at a private laboratory.
Her son Nilesh, 25, on Sunday said, “This morning we were told that my mother’s report is negative. She was in a quarantine centre for two days. We went through a lot since her report from the civic laboratory came positive. We are happy that she is not infected. However, there should be some inquiry into this as no one else should face the same thing.”
Ganesh Deshmukh, additional municipal commissioner of TMC, said, “It is normal to get different results when the test is done on two different days. The result changes the next day as per the viral load.”
He added that every person with Covid-like symptom is treated as a Covid case irrespective of results. “Even though the woman tested negative later on, she had symptoms and so was treated as a Covid case. It is a protocol we follow at present.”
A month after the civic-run Kalwa hospital mixed up the report of a 34-year-old woman who was nine-month pregnant, she was reunited with her one-month-old baby.
The woman, who was not infected at the time, was admitted to a Covid ward after the civic hospital mixed up her report with someone else. She, however, tested positive later and gave birth to a baby girl. The baby had tested negative and could not be kept with her mother.
A family member of the woman said, “Samiksha Markande, a Thane resident, took up the responsibility of the baby who is now healthy. Her mother has now tested negative and is allowed to take the baby home after a month.”
ABOUT THE AUTHORMegha PolI am a special correspondent with Hindustan Times and also the chief of bureau for Thane. I have worked in Thane for over a decade, covering social, civic, infrastructural, political and cultural issues.Read More

E-Paper


