Poor lab testing capacity keeps people waiting for reports

Bajura, June 7

It has already been a week since swab samples collected from Bajura for COVID-19 test were sent to Dhangadi, but people are still waiting for the reports.

A girl died from coronavirus and her mother tested positive for the infection last Sunday. Swab samples of health workers, police personnel and locals staying in Dhuralasain quarantine were collected and sent for test on June 1. The deceased girl and her mother had stayed in the same quarantine.

Bajura Health Office Information Officer Ashok Singh said the test reports had not come though swabs were sent a week ago. Swab samples of 187 people were sent for test on June 1 and 67 swab samples were sent for test after that.

Sudurpaschim Province had halted swab collection for five days due to backlogs of swab samples meant for COVID-19 test.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 8, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.