Amid Covid surge, testing in Karnataka hit by delays

On Friday, the state conducted 2.03 lakh tests in a 24-hour period, the highest-ever since the pandemic broke out.

As per official information, the state can conduct 2,19,980 RT-PCR tests per day as of now (1,18,500 by 97 government labs and 1,01,480 by 168 private labs).

The 2,03,260 tests done on Jan 5 pushed the state’s test positivity rate (TPR) from an average of 2.02% in the seven days prior to 4.16% on Friday.

While the testing achievement is comforting, as it provides a good measure of the spread of the infection, there is also a troubling aspect to it, one that could impede efforts to bring the TPR under control.

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Testing labs at some districts are taking over 48 hours to provide results, according to war room data, which at the current moment of the pandemic is asking for trouble.

Even in Bengaluru Urban, only about 56% of test results come back within 24 hours, with 6% taking over two days.

As per the data released by the State Covid War Room, which covers one day (January 6), nine districts exhibited problems in delivering quick test results: Raichur, Yadgir, Uttara Kannada, Koppal, Tumakuru, Ballari, Bidar, Belagavi and Vijayapura.

Raichur district, which received 1,656 samples, was able to provide results for only 316 (or 10%) in under 24 hours, with the results of 1,286 (89%) taking between 24 and 48 hours. The results of 54 (2%) samples took more than 48 hours to return.

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District Health Officer Dr Ramakrishna H told DH that the problem in delayed test results was because of bottlenecks, with samples collected in the morning sometimes not being processed until late at night.

“However, now we are working around the clock,” he said, adding that the district has one official government lab to process a daily target of about 2,100 samples daily.

Meanwhile, In Tumakuru district, where the results of about 2,000 samples (43%) out of 3,331 were returned between 24 to 48 hours, the DHO, Dr M B Nagendrappa said that the district is also processing samples from Bengaluru amid a sudden growth in samples originating from the district.

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The report went on to detail 99 testing labs in the state, with the highest average delay between receiving the sample and uploading the report to ICMR. Of the top 12 labs exhibiting delays, only two belonged to the government. Among them was Bowring Lady Curzon Medical College and Research Institute (BLCMRI), which is said to have delayed the results of 69% of 5,725 samples.

According to Dr Manoj Kumar, Dean and Director of the BLCMRI, the number of samples to be processed per day rose recently from 4,000 to 6,000 on average. “Nevertheless, we have two RT-PCR machines that are running for four shifts a day. If case numbers go up, there will be an inevitable delay,” he said.

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