Testing hit as 20 Amritsar lab staffers home quarantined

AMRITSAR: As more and more Covid-19 cases are being reported in Amritsar, testing at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) Amritsar has taken a hit after staffers were placed in home quarantine due to one positive case among them.

After a 28-year old lab attendant tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, 20 other staff members were sent for home quarantine for the week. In their absence, testing at GMCH dipped 85% and samples are piling up rapidly.

“After the attendant tested positive, we stopped taking more samples. The 20 quarantined staff members tested over 500 samples daily. Now, more than 1,000 samples have piled up, among which are samples of 250 Hazur Sahib pilgrims,” said Dr KD Singh, GMCH microbiologist, who is in home quarantine.

Meanwhile, the GMC authorities have assigned temporary medical staff at the lab to continue the testing.

Dr Lavina Oberoi, the head of microbiology department at GMC Amritsar, said, “We have deployed 6 temporary staffers for testing samples, but since we don’t have researchers and microbiologists, the working at the lab has been hampered. Once the staff is trained in a day or two, we will pick up pace.”

Civil surgeon Dr Jugal Kishore said they were trying to get private labs to start testing, and 129 samples have been sent to them.