As city’s testing figures stay low, labs blame Centre’s app
nNEW DELHI: Fewer samples have been tested for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Delhi over the past few days with the number falling from an average of about 7,000 samples at the end of May to around 5,000 samples on June 10.
The biggest hurdle, according to laboratories, is the cumbersome RT-PCR mobile app, which has made the process of entering test data tedious; but not entering the data isn’t an option. The state government barred some labs from testing because they were not using the app.
“Every single detail is documented and sent to the authorities concerned, however, it may not be in the format that the government wants because of logistical issues. If you want to punish well-meaning people for that then there is nothing we can do about it,” said an administrator in a Delhi hospital that treats Covid-19 patients. This person asked not to be identified.
The app, which shares its name with the reverse transcription, polymerase chain reaction test which is the gold standard for identifying Covid-19 cases, was launched by the centre on April 30, to remove any discrepancies in sharing of Covid-related data by approved laboratories.
The app is meant to be used by labs across India.
Data is to be filled at the point and time of sample collection and that poses a problem.
The head of a Delhi laboratory that does Covid tests rattled off the issues on condition of anonymity: poor connectivity; the fact that phlebotomists (who collect data) walk, wearing PPES and all to collect samples because it is sometimes difficult to find parking; that they do not want to stay in the infection zone for a minute longer than required but feeding data through the app takes about 10 minutes extra.
“The attrition rate of phlebotomists has gone up. It’s difficult to find new ones,” the person added.
It’s not as if it is easier to do this with inpatients in hospitals, said the head of a lab at a private hospital who asked not to be named.
“Imagine a nurse going inside the ICU with a mobile phone to feed in patient data at the time of sample of collection. You cannot do it later because you get a onetime password in the patient’s phone that you have to quickly feed in. These practical problems nobody seems to think about.”
Before the introduction of mobile-based application, labs were feeding patient data into web portals created by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and respective state governments.
The head of another Delhi laboratory said “mobile phones can be potential carriers of diseasecausing microorganisms.”
“I don’t carry my phone while stepping out these days because there is enough evidence to show how mobile phones can be carriers of disease-causing microbes, including viruses,” says Dr Shobha Broor, former head of microbiology, AIIMS.