[ Karyir Riba ]
ROING, Jun 18: The second sample taken from the DTP operator of the Lower Dibang Valley DMO’s office on 17 June has tested negative for Covid-19.
Thirty-six staffers of the DMO’s office, including the DMO and seven other doctors, are in home quarantine after the DTP operator tested positive for Covid-19 recently.
The operator, who lived alone here, had left for Jorhat (Assam) on 12 June to bring back her husband and children to Roing. Her sample was taken for testing at the entry point in Jorhat, and was thereafter found to be positive.
When asked if the first test result could have been false, District Hospital MD, Dr Aniyang Modi said “it is possible that her first test was indeed positive and now, after five days, she could be cured or her viral load must have reduced to a non-detectable level; hence, her RT-PCR is negative now.
“In such a situation, antibody testing will give us some further clue, and another advantage of antibody testing is that it can be rapidly done.
If antibodies are detected in her serum, it is most likely that she is cured now or is in the process of getting cured. However, if antibodies are not detected, then maybe the first RT-PCR test was a false positive,” Dr Modi said.
Since the patient is in Assam now, they might follow their own SOP to identify any flaw in the test results.
