Questions over Covid testing after video shows 'swab manipulation'

A viral video of two swab collectors filling Covid testing vials without testing anyone has put the government’s credibility into question over the collection process.

Sources hinted that the high testing target has sapped the morale of testers across the city, forcing them to adopt desperate measures. In the video, the testers could be seen placing unused swabs in the vials bound for testing labs. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has suspended the swab collectors working with the Kodigehalli urban primary health centre as well as the PHC’s medical officer.

An FIR has also been registered against the two individuals who are not BBMP employees but are “outsourced” workers. The suspensions come even as concern has grown in the top echelons of the BBMP in recent days over a spate of inconclusive test reports from labs linked to some PHCs, explained Rajendra Cholan, Special Commissioner (Health), BBMP.

"We’ve started tracking these inconclusive test reports and are identifying the PHCs that have a higher number of such reports,” he said, adding that the number of such instances is “small”.

BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta echoed the statement. “We’re testing over 50,000 people every day,” he said. “When tests are conducted at such a large scale, we might face a few discrepancies.”

But several swab collectors told DH that the problem may be more widespread. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one swab collector put the issue down to the dramatic increase in daily testing targets.

"This week, the number of tests to be conducted went up from 200 to 500 tests per UPHC per day,” the swab collector said. “These are extremely difficult numbers to achieve in a day and have created problems for the testing teams.”

Health officials, however, said the testing targets were the result of careful scientific planning. The new targets are meant to reflect the increased test positivity rate, said Additional Chief Secretary, Health Department, Jawaid Akhtar.

He added that the increased testing target is also meant to compensate for the 20-odd primary contacts to be tested for each positive case. The BBMP’s contact-tracing efforts were hobbled by the fact that only 10-13 contacts were being traced for each Covid-19 patient, a rate which needs to be improved, Akhtar said.

Swab collectors, however, said that finding 20 contacts per day was more challenging than senior officers can realise. “On average, if we get 50 primary contacts to show up for testing at the UPHC, that is a cause for celebration,” said a swab collector working in North Bengaluru.

Gupta assured that the Palike would not tolerate such practices and was determined to take the most stringent action when such incidents come to light.