Govt confirms testing backlog

Government has confirmed the Covid-19 testing backlog is 96 480, after three different figures were presented on Thursday.

At an online press briefing on Thursday, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said he thought the backlog was about 100 000.

Later in the afternoon, the acting director-general of the department of health, Anban Pillay, told a joint meeting of both houses of parliament’s health committees the backlog was 80 000.

Minutes later, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said: “At the moment, the backlog is about 30 000 specimens.”

Mkhize usually releases statements containing daily statistics in the early evening, between 8pm and 10pm.

But shortly after midnight, he sent out a statement, reading: “The acting director-general was indeed correct when he stated that the backlog was around 80 000. This is to confirm that the exact figure of specimens that have not been processed is 96 480 as at 25 May, 2020.”

Mkhize also made reference to the backlog of tests that had not been allocated and stated that the figure of 30 00 was in reference to the backlog of tests done but which remained unknown, as depicted in the table entitled “Covid-19 indicators by province”.

The statement said the table illustrated the number of tests conducted, versus the specimens collected, but not yet processed, which fluctuated daily.

The table showed a figure of 29 948, with the following explanation in the statement: “As at 27 May, 2020, 634 996 tests had been conducted and of those, a total of 29 948 tests reflects a backlog of unallocated tests.

This is due to the lack of sufficient data recorded and this requires the [National Institute for Communicable Diseases] to verify each test prior to allocating it to the province.”

At Thursday’s meeting, EFF MP Naledi Chirwa pointed to the three different figures and asked for clarification.

Mkhize didn’t provide the explanation contained in the midnight statement, saying: “We will then recheck those figures...”

– News24 Wire