Gurugram: Nine private labs get notice for uploading incorrect addresses of Covid-19 patients

Gurugram: The district health department on Thursday issued show cause notices to nine private labs, including four Delhi-based labs, for uploading on the official

Gurugram: The district health department on Thursday issued show cause notices to nine private labs, including four Delhi-based labs, for uploading on the official portal incorrect addresses of at least 43 people tested positive for Covid-19. Citing that incorrect details hamper the entire cycle of surveillance and contact tracing, health officials said that the labs have been given two days’ time to respond to the notice.

According to the officials, these labs are also retesting those who have been detected Covid-19 positive, which is leading to duplicity of data in nearly 8-10% cases.

According to the chief medical officer, Dr Virender Yadav, incorrect contact details of at least 43 Covid-19 positive patients have been fed in the ICMR portal this week by these nine labs. Surveillance by local police shows that these cases, which belonged to Delhi, were listed in Gurugram, he said.

“Labs are not verifying the ID proofs submitted by people coming for Covid-19 test. They should take proper address proof even if people are living temporarily in the city. Incomplete details put unwanted pressure on the government machinery,” said Yadav.

The CMO said that labs are even retesting people, who have already been tested positive. “It has been an ongoing activity that people who are already confirmed positive get themselves retested again after two days. Data shows that it leads to duplicity of data in about 8-10% cases. More than that it increases the chances of transmission to others around,” said Yadav.

An ICMR study in April predicted that a Covid-19 patient can infect 406 people in 30 days if preventive measures such as social distancing are not implemented.

According to the officials, many people come to Gurugram for an RT-PCR test as the charge for the same in the district is Rs 900, which is comparatively lower than Delhi’s Rs 2,400.

The issue of incorrect address of Covid-19 patients has been raised since May. On May 31, the Director General Health Services (DGHS) Haryana had issued notices to 18 private labs of Delhi, approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for doing Covid-19 testing in the national capital, for taking samples of Haryana patients without keeping Haryana health department in the loop.

In June, the Haryana government had written a letter to the Union health minister, mentioning that labs in Delhi, which are taking Covid-19 samples of Haryana residents, are not sharing reports properly with the authorities concerned, resulting in delay of contact tracing and surveillance activities, besides creating mismatch on ICMR portal.