Many struggle to get Covid-19 tests after 300-650% jump

Diagnostics firms testing for coronavirus are nearing breaking point in cities like New Delhi and Mumbai as India battles its biggest surge in Covid-19, which may worsen the crisis as many sick people can’t get tested fast enough to isolate themselves. “We can’t cater to the demand,” said Dr. Vidur Mahajan of Mahajan Imaging in the Indian capital, who has temporarily shut two of his three sample collection points due to a backlog of pre-booked tests, and to prioritise testing for government hospitals.

India has recorded more than 200,000 new Covid-19 cases daily for the last six days, marking the world’s worst jump this month. But many people have failed to get tested at all or early, which means the reported caseload of 15.3 million may be much lower than the real extent of the infection.

Officials from four diagnostics companies, including Mahajan, said samples currently being tested daily were between 300-650 per cent higher than February, putting infrastructure and personnel under severe pressure. Doctors and patients in New Delhi and financial hub Mumbai said it was taking between three and eight days to find slots for the highly accurate RT-PCR tests and get their results. If sample arrivals rise further, by 25 to 30 per cent, “probably the testing facilities will crash, in terms of turnaround time at least,” said A. Ganesan, group vice-chairman of Neuberg Diagnostics, which runs 14 testing labs across India.

The testing facilities will crash, in terms of turnaround time at least, if there is 25-30 per cent increase in sample arrivals.”

A. Ganesan | Group vice-chairman, Neuberg Diagnostics