Nagpur: Officials want citizens to stop doing repeat tests for Covid

NAGPUR: Many curious citizens have been found going in for repeated Covid testing despite getting a conclusive negative or positive report in the first sample.
Nagpur Municipal Corporation-run (NMC) testing centre officials said daily they come across persons who queue up again within a couple of days of getting their first result. They said a curb on such persons can bring down the daily case numbers, which are surging every day.
However, a civic official, who is entrusted with data compilation, said such cases account for less than one per cent cases.
He said the repeat testing is not making much of a difference in daily figures. “Even if someone gets tested again, the case is removed as ICMR portal detects it. However, this is subject to the person filling in same spelling of name, address and mobile number,” he said.
The repeaters include persons who are not happy with a negative report as well as those who doubt a positive report. A large number of people are also getting frequently tested as a mandatory workplace requirement for a Covid negative certificate. These include positive patients who get themselves tested after 10 days, though as per ICMR norms this is no longer required to declare a person Covid-free.
An official said a referral system must be put in place to ensure the needy get priority and cases reflect the actual daily count of cases. A positive patient getting him or herself tested again within a week is added in the long list of positive cases, zone officials said.
Centre officials said the repeaters often given different mobile numbers, make certain changes in address or their name spelling. “People testing after 10 days have a high chance of showing false positive. Some go for a private lab if they are stopped at public testing centres,” the civic official said.
Even if one percent are repeaters, the testing centres are reeling under immense pressure of workload. The district has been performing 20,000 to 25,000 tests daily.
Another testing centre official said people fight if they ask what is the need to get tested again. “As there is no system, we have to test whoever is waiting in line. We are forced to test everyone. It will lead to delays if we are to check for repeaters among all 300 to 400 people at our centre,” he said.