Health department serves notices to six private labs over ‘false’ Covid-19 reports
The Gautam Budh Nagar district health department has issued notices to six private laboratories operating in Delhi-NCR for allegedly declaring eight people of the district ‘falsely’ positive for coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Irked with the alleged false reports, district magistrate Suhas LY said such false positive reports cause panic among the residents. “The chief medical officer (CMO) has been asked to write to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) regarding the authentication and assessment of these six private laboratories. Since the number of sample collection centres has increased in the district, we will certainly keep a close watch on all tests being conducted by the private laboratories,” he said.
District surveillance officer Dr Sunil Dohre said at least eight people were falsely tested positive for Covid-19 by the private labs and during the re-examination at government facilities they tested negative. “All eight persons were found negative and were discharged from government hospitals. We have already issued notices to six private pathological laboratories operating in Delhi, Noida and other places, for giving false Covid-19 positive reports to the eight persons. The false reports have caused mental trauma to these persons,” he said.
Dr Dohre further said the reports in question that were provided by the six private laboratories were later re-examined and verified by the National Institute of Biologicals (NIB), the Super Speciality Paediatric Hospital, and the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS).
“All these reports were later negative at the government facilities. The CMO has also issued strict directives to the private laboratories over their static and mobile sample-collection centres regarding Covid-19 tests. They have been asked to collect the samples strictly as per Covid-19 norms, and the samples must be duly verified by the in-charge of sample collection in the district health department,” he said.
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