TIRUCHI
Tiruchi now has no private laboratory testing for COVID-19 after a private facility in Thennur stopped testing for the viral disease, citing shortage of staff. Three private hospitals where tests continue to be taken say they are lifted only for patients who are admitted as inpatients to the hospitals.
Tiruchi district initially had six testing centres — Magnum Imaging and Diagnostics, Neuberg Ehrlich Laboratory, Doctors’ Diagnostics Centre, Apollo Hospitals, GVN Hospitals and SRM Medical College Hospital.
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While Doctors’ Diagnostics Centre was sealed by authorities a fortnight ago, Magnum Imaging closed their collection centre on the grounds that they were facing a shortage of staff. “Our staff were afraid of contracting the infection and we could not force them to stay. After some deliberation, we have decided to stop testing,” said R. Bavaharan, Director of Magnum Imaging and Diagnostics.
Representatives of Neuberg Ehrlich Laboratory, the only other standalone laboratory in the district, said that they would not be testing individuals despite receiving approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi.
“We have a mutual agreement with a private hospital in the city, and the tests for patients at that hospital are processed here,” they said. Bioline too has stopped testing outpatients.
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Meanwhile, at the three private hospitals which are also COVID treating hospitals, tests are only lifted and processed for patients who are admitted to the hospital. When enquiries were made, representatives at one of the hospitals said, “Our doctors will consult patients and check them for symptoms. Depending upon the necessity, samples are lifted. We do not take tests for patients who are not admitted here. We also do not test patients with travel history. They are referred to the Tiruchi Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital,” they said, requesting anonymity.
M.S. Ashraf, former national vice-president, Indian Medical Association, said it is gravely important for the district administration to scale up testing.
“The union ministry has advised 16 districts in the country to scale up testing, based on their COVID mortality rate — Tiruchi and Chennai are among the 16,” he said.
Dr. Ashraf suggested that testing must be increased among two specific groups - youths up to the age of 30 and adults over 50.
The youths usually have mild COVID symptoms and if isolated, can be quickly healed. Due to lack of sufficient testing, they become “asymptomatic super-spreaders,” putting the lives of their parents, grandparents and other senior citizens at risk, he said.
“The other group are the senior citizens. Due to their delicate health, they are vulnerable to the infection and are also a large part of the population who succumb to it. If they are tested and isolated before the infection is severe, they can be saved,” he said.
However, S. Sivarasu, Tiruchi Collector, told The Hindu that even without the private laboratories, the number of tests conducted in Tiruchi was higher when compared to some other districts.
“Our positivity rate has fallen significantly. We have three private hospitals where tests can be processed, apart from the high-tech lab at the K.A.P. Viswanatham Government Medical College, which is more than what is required for our district,” he maintained.