A mix-up in the coronavirus test results put the lives of 35 individuals at risk in Noida as they were compelled to spend three days in a hospital's Covid-19 ward. The confusion was caused because of alleged lapses in the sample collection by some private labs, NDTV reported.
The private labs have been issued a notice by the Noida administration and one lab has been charged in an FIR.
Noida Health Department's probe has shown that the 35 individuals had first consulted private practitioners after they experienced cough, cold and fever. They were reportedly asked to get themselves tested for Covid-19, following which they went to the private labs.
They had all tested positive for coronavirus and were subsequently moved to government isolation centres. However, when their samples were dispatched to the National Institute of Virology, the results came out negative, startling health officials.
They have been discharged but are being monitored, officials told NDTV.
"Six labs have come to our notice over lapses in COVID-19 tests. An FIR has been filed against one and we have sent a notice to the others," Noida Chief Medical Officer Deepak Ohri was quoted as saying.
Ohri said that the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) testing guidelines were not followed and added that appropriate action would be taken depending on how the labs responded to the notice issued.
A probe indicates that there were slip-ups in the sample collection by the private lab employees and they did not keep the samples in the favourable temperature, leading to incorrect results.
The labs were not registered with ICMR and had reportedly charged Rs 4,500 to 5,000 per test.
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