Hyderabad: The special drive to conduct 50,000 Coronavirus confirmation tests in and around Hyderabad city has hit a roadblock with the health department announcing that it was suspending special camps where it has been collecting samples from Covid-19 suspect persons.
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had announced on June 14 that 50,000 tests would be conducted in 30 Assembly constituencies in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation area and adjoining districts
An apparent lack of facilities to store the collected samples as well as testing them has put the brakes on the promise of 50,000 tests in 10 days.
On Thursday, the health department announced that it was suspending collection of samples as part of the drive because of the piling up of samples collected so far. In a statement, director of health services Dr G. Srinivas Rao said beginning June 16, 36,000 samples were collected and 8,253 samples were pending with various testing labs.
Every sample should be tested within 48 hours and must be stored at a designated temperature till it is tested. With a large numbers of samples collected, it has become difficult to manage their storage and processing. If the samples are kept longer, without testing, there is every possibility that the test results will be positive, Dr Srinivas Rao said.
To bring up to speed the testing at the labs and clear the backlog of accumulated samples, collection of samples from suspected Covid-19 people at special camps has been suspended for two days. “However, routine sample collection from people with symptoms as part of the regular health services at designated hospitals, will continue,” Dr Srinivas Rao said.
