The labs here are struggling to return the Covid-19 sample results.
On Monday, there were more than a thousand samples, which were yet to be tested even though the Tomo Riba Institute for Health and Medical Sciences and IRL, Naharlagun are working seven days a week.
Arunachal has seen a huge jump in sample collection since it made testing mandatory for all the returnees.
The health department had said that 5600, out of the 11000 who had registered online, have returned from different parts of the country, which has led to increased load in the laboratories, resulting in increased backlog for testing and sharing of results.
The health department said that gaps in sample collections and returning results would be bridged in the coming week as the labs have been requested to expedite the process.
With cases in Assam increasing at an alarming rate, Arunachal will have to find out a way to accelerate its testing process in the state itself, without relying on Assam.
As of now, bulk of the samples is being sent to Dibrugarh, Assam. Samples from Arunachal are also sent to Guwahati and to the Tezpur Medical College in Assam.
Efforts must be made by the state government to upgrade the existing lab infrastructure and at the same time look for testing alternatives.
With flight and train services now operational, more people will return to the state and the already overloaded labs will not be able to cope with the samples.
There is urgent need for intervention by the authorities.