Hyderabad: Delay in Covid testing causes intense anxiety

Hyderabad: With no adequate number of testing facilities available locally in the city, the frail people with Covid-19 symptoms are put to suffer more as the designated testing centres in far-flung areas are turning them back citing the slots are booked for almost a week.

Mohd. Imaam, who was advised to go for testing along with his wife by the doctor of a private hospital, said, "People, with prescriptions in their hands are forced to wait in serpentine queues for several hours. Rest were asked to leave and come back only after a week or at least four days later citing the slots are already booked."

"My husband and I were told to go for a test by the doctor, however, after shuttling from one facility to another for an entire whole day in the city, we didn't get the chance for tested anywhere, we had to return with disappointment," said Lakshmamma.

There are nine government facilities presently testing COVID-19 samples in the city. They are Gandhi Medical College, Osmania Medical College, Sir Ronald Ross of Tropical & Communicable Diseases, Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, Institute of Preventive Medicine, ESIC Medical College, Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting & Diagnostics and Kakatiya Medical College in Warangal.

Besides this, some RT-PCR-based private testing laboratories are also performing covid-19 tests for people approaching with symptoms.

Despite the increasing number of Covid cases in the city, especially under GHMC limits, not all the areas have been facilitated with the testing centres. Off late, some centres have been approved to carry out testing; Puranapul in the Old City in one among them where a facility was set up at a local Urban Primary Health Centre.

"Taking into consideration the difficulties people are facing to get tested at various centres in the city, we have strived to ensure setting up of a centre here to facilitate the local people. From today onwards, the centre has started testing people approaching with symptoms," informed Sunnam Rajmohan, Corporator Puranapul Division.