Covid test results stuck after NIB’s machine malfunctions

Gautam Budh Nagar district is facing delay in getting Covid-19 test reports, following a technical snag in the sample testing machine at National Institute of Biologicals

Gautam Budh Nagar district is facing delay in getting Covid-19 test reports, following a technical snag in the sample testing machine at National Institute of Biologicals (NIB) in Noida. Over 100 samples from NIB have been shifted to the Government Institute of Medical Sciences in Greater Noida after the snag was reported.

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The district health department has been facing trouble in getting Covid-19 sample reports for the last few weeks. Following the crisis, GIMS was asked to develop its lab for Covid-19 testing, along with NIB. In the month of March and the beginning of April, samples were being sent to labs at Aligarh Muslim University, Meerut, National Centre of Disease Control and other places. Later, NIB and GIMS were roped in to exclusively test Covid samples for Gautam Budh Nagar district .

Till Monday, the district had reported 224 Covid-19 positive cases and two deaths.

In the last week of April, GIMS authorities had to face criticism after hundreds of samples were ‘wasted’ and most reports came out to be ‘inconclusive’.

The inconclusive reports forced officials to collect samples from suspected Covid-19 patients a second time, leading to panic and restlessness among those who are currently under quarantine at various government centres in the district.

On Sunday night, samples from NIB were shifted to GIMS, which led to delay in results. GIMS authorities started conducting tests from 6am on Monday, with a target of testing at least 250 samples. “We have received samples from NIB and are conducting the Covid-19 tests. We started testing from 6am on Monday because we wanted to complete testing of around 250 samples. Our teams are working round-the-clock to clear the pending lot,” said Dr Rakesh Gupta, director GIMS.

Uttar Pradesh government has also given its nod to use the molecular labs of Sharda Hospital in Greater Noida and Jaypee Hospital in sector 128 in Noida for testing samples. These two were waiting for a final go ahead from the state government.

“We have sent all Covid-19 samples to GIMS as our testing machine has malfunctioned. The problem started from Saturday evening. We are expecting that the problem will be resolved by Thursday and we will be able to conduct tests again,” said a senior official from NIB.

Meanwhile, the family of a 55-year-old woman continued waiting to claim her body from GIMS mortuary till Monday evening, despite her Covid test result coming negative.

The woman was a resident of sector 128 and her husband is a constable with the Delhi police. The woman had complained of vomiting after which she was taken to the district hospital in Sector 30 of Noida.

Doctors at the district hospital suspected her of having the virus and her sample was collected. On May 6, the condition of the woman deteriorated after which she was referred to GIMS, where she died during treatment.

Authorities were not able to hand over the body before they get her Covid-19 reports.“We will now be handing over the body to her family members as she has been found negative for the virus,” said the GIMS director.