Patients at home flag delays in testing, results

Gurgaon: Covid-19 patients under home isolation in the city have expressed concerns over delay in testing and results. Some pointed out that because of the delay, the infected are transmitting the virus to their families and thus contributing to the city’s increasing number of infections.
A 54-year-old patient who tested positive on June 10 said he had fever on June 3 and it took him four days to convince the doctor to conduct a Covid-19 test.
“I was told that I should rest at home and take medicines for three days. After three days, I was told to wait for an additional two days, but I insisted that a test be conducted the next day. They took my sample on June 7 and I got the result — Covid positive — on the hospital website on June 10. I was advised to stay in home isolation as my condition was mild. Meanwhile, I infected my two daughters,” he said.
Other Covid-19 patients in home isolation said they were unaware that they were infected and transmitted the virus to their family members. “Doctors refused to test me for more than a week, and after the test, I had to wait four more days for the result. Because of me, my wife and my 15-year-old son are also infected,” said a 45-year-old patient.
Another patient said his test report came after three days. “Though I was taking precautions, my wife got infected from me. We both are under home isolation now. This could have been avoided if the labs provide test results within 24 hours,” the 32-year-old said.
A 26-year-old patient, who lives alone, said that he came in contact with a Covid-positive at his workplace and thus got infected. “I was suffering from loss of smell. During contact tracing, I also got tested by the health department and they have been calling every day. As I live alone I couldn’t infect anyone, but the department keeps calling repeatedly for the same information, which is annoying.”
Health department officials admitted that the delay in results is contributing to the surge in Covid cases in the city. “We agree that because of the delay in test reports, cases have increased in the city. We are working to provide results to patients within 24 to 36 hours,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurgaon.
Private hospitals, meanwhile, are advising most patients with mild symptoms to stay under home isolation. Dr Ritu Garg, zonal director, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, said, “Our doctors are monitoring the health condition of our patients under home isolation through video conferencing.”