It’s testing time for pregnant women, elderly at flu corner

Ludhiana: The elderly and pregnant women have to go through an ordeal to give samples for Covid-19 test at the civil hospital. While the health department officials collect samples of the contacts of positive patients from high-risk areas themselves, they ask residents of other areas to go to the flu corner to give their samples.
After the son of a 63-year-old woman tested Covid-19 positive about five days ago, a team of the health department reached their house to take him for institutional quarantine and told her that they would come for her sampling. However, five days later, she received a call and an ambulance was sent to take her to the civil hospital around 11.30am on Friday. After being asked to wait in the ambulance for about 20 minutes, she stood for her turn to give sample for another 45 minutes.
“In the meanwhile, I saw around three pregnant women standing in a queue to give samples at the flu corner. They were apparently four to five months pregnant and asked to get a Covid-19 test done prior to an ultrasound. They told me that they had been waiting there for around 45 minutes to give their samples. After they gave their samples, they kept waiting for the reports as nobody had told them that those would come after a day or two,” said the elderly woman. She added that due to the hot weather, it was not easy for anyone, especially elderly and pregnant women, to wait for such long durations.
An eyewitness said long queues of people waiting to give their samples was a routine affair at the civil hospital. He said most of those standing were the contacts of the positive patients and along with them were pregnant women, who could catch the virus from any of them. Besides, patients with co-morbidities were also seen waiting for their turn, he said. “The government should quicken the process, especially for those whose family members have tested positive, as they are already in a state of shock,” he added.
Civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga said they have adequate staff for sampling at the flu corner and the samples of contacts were taken after five days, by when symptoms appear. “Be it young or elderly, if they are not from a high-risk area, they will have to come to the civil hospital to give their samples as it was easy to collect them at one place,” he added.