Mix-up at Faridkot laboratory stirs row

Faridkot, May 3

The Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital today declared five Covid-19 suspects as negative and positive at the same time in two different reports.

The reports led to confusion among the health officials. While doctors and laboratory technicians later clarified that the inclusion of the names of these five persons on the lists of both positive and negative cases was an error and these persons were confirmed positive cases, patients and their relatives in Moga were a harried lot.

The doctors at the VRDL revealed that after receiving samples from a station, the laboratory prepares separate lists for those testing positive and negative. But in this case, the names of five positive cases were mistakenly listed among the negative cases as well.

Sources said the error was the outcome of huge burden on the lab, which has limited workforce and inadequate infrastructure.

In the last five days, this lab has received 2,235 samples. Of these, 119 were tested positive. On Saturday evening, the lab had 1,076 pending cases.

The lab is working in three shifts of six hours each due to heavy rush of samples. In the absence of adequate staff, the lab is also using the services of its post-graduate students of microbiology and laboratory technicians. — TNS