[ Karyir Riba ]
ROING, 27 Apr: The Lower Dibang Valley (LDV) health department has drawn a lot of flak after people who had tested negative for the coronavirus in Monday’s testing found their names on the list of positives.
As many as 11 people who had tested negative were projected as being Covid positive in the official daily data of the district.
DMO Dr R Tatan said that the whole incident was a case of “an absolute clerical error.”
“Action will definitely be taken against the staff on duty, but we also need public cooperation at the testing centres. Despite being told again and again, there is zero social distancing. In fact, people waiting to get tested are so impatient that they start pushing and shoving each other instead of waiting for their turn. People should follow all SOPs and wait for their turn. Otherwise, the technician and other staff get pressurized and due to loss of concentration such errors occur,” he said.
Dr Tatan further said that, since it was getting difficult for the health workers to man the public at the testing centre, he had spoken to the DSP to deploy police force to ensure social distancing during the wait for the test.
“Today, the DSP had sent a team to monitor the situation,” he informed.
The DMO has ordered the DSO (IDSP) to re-conduct the test on the 11 people whose names were wrongly entered on the list of positive cases.
One of the victims of this ‘clerical error’ informed that he had received a Covid negative test report for his father soon after the test but was later informed that the district list had recorded him as positive.
“I had to take my father to Pasighat for a re-test because I do not trust the testing system here in Roing anymore. Fortunately, the test result has come back negative this time too. This is a very serious blunder on the part of our health department,” said an irate son.
After this error, people are starting to question the results of the RATs being conducted here.
How do we make sure that the test result is correct? What if a negative person is wrongly tested as positive? What if he develops side effects from the medication? What if a positive person is wrongly tested as a negative? He will roam around freely and spread the virus. These are the common questions and concerns on everyone’s mind now.
However, Dr Tatan assured that it was an honest mistake. As for side effects of medication if consumed by a false positive, he said that the medicines prescribed are vitamins, zinc tablets and Paracetamol for SOS situations, and antibiotics if the condition is a bit serious.
“These medicines will not cause any negative side effects,” he said.
Meanwhile, the district administration has fixed the timing of the market from 6 am to 6 pm.
The police department is also strictly employing patrolling to ensure social distancing and use of mask in public places around the township area and its outskirts.
Meanwhile, Arunachal recorded 123 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases to 819.
Of the total 123 new cases reported, 13 are symptomatic.
The Itanagar capital region (ICR) reported the highest 30 positive cases, which is followed by 22 in LDV and 15 in Lower Subansiri.
Presently, the ICR has 215 active cases, while LDV has 199.
Also, 30 people are currently admitted in Covid care centres and 56 others are admitted in dedicated Covid health centres/hospitals.
Meanwhile, 28 patients were declared recovered or discharged on the day (see bulletin).
It is not certain whether the Covid bulletin has been updated with the corrected numbers from LDV.
