No Covid sample collection at several private labs on Monday

Several private laboratories did not collect Covid-19 samples for the second day on Monday. Out of ten private laboratories that HT called on Monday, four didn’t

Several private laboratories did not collect Covid-19 samples for the second day on Monday. Out of ten private laboratories that HT called on Monday, four didn’t answer, five said they were not providing the service temporarily and one had a token system in place—patients had to come in early in the morning to give their samples on a first-come-first-served basis.

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The labs that have temporarily stopped collecting samples include City X-Ray and Scan Clinic in Tilak Nagar, and Lifeline Laboratory in Green Park (which is at capacity and cannot test any more samples until it clears its backlog). Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute said they could collect samples only if the Oncquest laboratory was ready to test as they had outsourced Covid-19 testing to them.

The government banned eight labs from testing samples after pulling them up on June 5 for not following protocols, and, according to the health minister, taking too long to report results. These include Dr Lal Pathlabs, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Prognosis laboratory, SRL reference laboratory, Fortis Hospital, Star Imaging Path laboratory, Pathkind labs and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) now recognises 23 private laboratories for Covid-19 testing.

HT had reported on Sunday that most private laboratories in Delhi had either capped the number of people they test in a day or were not collecting samples for some time, making it very difficult to patients to get tested for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the capital.

Delhi’s testing protocol is tighter than that of the Indian Council of Medical Research. Tests are restricted to symptomatic individuals. Even direct contacts of infected people can be tested only if they are senior citizens or have co-morbid conditions. Due to private laboratories not functioning, most patients will have to go to a hospital flu or fever clinic directly to get tested.