PATNA: With the Covid-19 cases soaring once again, people in the state capital are rushing to the health centres to get themselves tested. This spike in demand for Covid-19 tests over the past week has led to a backlog at the Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRI), which gets the majority of the samples for the RTPCR test from Patna.
As a result of the backlog at RMRI, test reports are getting delayed for over a week. A group of people, who had given their samples as early as March 31 at the Shastri Nagar Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHC), were protesting at the centre on Wednesday over the delay.
“It has been a week since I gave my sample and I was told that I will get a message on the phone. But no such message regarding Covid-19 test has come yet,” said a Bailey Road resident, who has been running to this PHC for the past couple of days, for the report.
Sanjeev Kumar, who had given his sample at the same PHC on April 2, is waiting for the report, which is leading to the delay in joining back at his job in Delhi where a test report has been made mandatory for those returning from outstation.
The Rajbanshi Nagar nodal medical officer, Dr Dipankar Kishore Ranjan, who sits at the same campus said in the past few days the rush at the health centres has increased compared to the previous month and this was leading to the delay at RMRI. Dr Dipankar said while a month ago, 12 to 17 samples were tested at that UPHC in a day, the number has now crossed 50 per day.
The health department’s special secretary and state health society executive director Dr Manoj Kumar said the rush is only in Patna. “We are getting the backlog cleared and trying to smoothen the process," Manoj added.