2 discharged patients test positive in Greater Noida, doctors say ‘looks like glitch’

The discharged patients who have been called back are the daughter of a Ceasefire employee from Sector 137 and a 53-year-old man from Sector 128, Noida.

Two patients of coronavirus disease Covid-19, who were discharged recently from the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Greater Noida, have been called back after their repeat tests showed them positive again on Monday morning.

People queue to collect essentials in Sector 27 on day nineteen of the 21-day Covid-19 lockdown, on April 12. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

According to officials, the sample results of both the patients came negative from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), but the reports from a Aligarh laboratory has shown them positive again. Officials have said that the Aligarh laboratory report can be a result of some technical glitch.

The discharged patients who have been called back are the daughter of a Ceasefire employee from Sector 137 and a 53-year-old man from Sector 128, Noida.

“The reports from NCDC have shown them negative, but the Aligarh results are showing them positive which looks like a technical glitch but we aren’t aware of it. We have got the patients back as a precautionary measure. Our laboratory is ready so we are conducting their tests in Noida once again. We are expecting the reports will be negative and they will be sent back again by the end of the day,” said Dr Rakesh Gupta, director, GIMS.

The district health department has been facing trouble for the last one week following the delay in the sample reports of Covid-19 suspects. The district magistrate has allotted Rs 46.22 lakh to the GIMS in Greater Noida and Rs 65 lakh to the Super Speciality Children Hospital in Sector 39 to develop Covid-19 laboratories so that the delay in reports can be avoided.

Most of the samples for Covid-19 tests were going to the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) or the Meerut laboratories, but since the number of sampling has increased in the state, these labs have been overloaded with work.

According to the officials, the tests of the discharged patients are conducted to keep a check if the virus infection doesn’t reoccur. The discharged patients are always asked to go under home quarantine for 14 days after getting discharge to ensure that nobody else gets infected if the infection reoccurs.