Samples of a newborn baby and his mother from Chembur, who were admitted to the civic-run Kasturba Hospital, have come negative for COVID-19. While the samples of the mother and son, who was born at Sai Hospital on March 26, had tested positive after they were sent to a private laboratory, the repeat samples tested on April 1 at Kasturba Hospital came negative on Thursday.
Dr. Anup Yadav of Directorate of Health Services confirmed that the tests were negative. “However, we will be re-testing them after an interval,” said Dr Yadav.
Microbiologists say it is quite unlikely to have false-positive reports in a Polymerase chain reaction (PCR). False-negative reports are possible when the swabs are not collected properly. “We should see if the private laboratory has more such false-positive reports,” said a microbiologist attached to a civic hospital.
A doctor from the private laboratory where the first tests were carried out said the possibility of false-positive and a false-negative report could not be ruled out completely. “But it is unlikely that both the mother and son’s reports are false-positive,” he said. He said the testing kits they are using have been given under an emergency use licence and therefore a good system of re-checking the test results would be in order.
Civic health officials said that a man from Govandi with respiratory symptoms was admitted to the hospital where the baby was delivered. He later tested positive. Many staff and patients from the hospital were then tested.
The mother and son’s samples came positive on April 1, after which they were admitted to Kasturba Hospital. The baby’s father has tested negative. The civic body has quarantined nearly 10 staff members.
The hospital’s receptionist, who also tested positive, has been re-tested at Kasturba and reports are awaited. The civic body has also disinfected the hospital premises from inside.
