Covid-19 testing shortages, long wait times for results trigger concerns

Experts consider large-scale testing to detect coronavirus patients and isolate them as the most significant job in efforts to curb infection, but Bangladesh is suffering a woeful shortage of diagnostic tests amid a continuous surge in Covid-19 cases.

The government has romped up testing efforts, but these appear far from enough as a vast multitude of the people are yet to be tested. While suspected patients struggle to undergo tests, many of them are dying or recovering before the tests.

As many as 62 laboratories are conducting coronavirus tests in Bangladesh now, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.

A shortage of staffing and testing materials has made things worse. Samples from suspected patients are piling up in the labs, repots bdnews24.com.

The Health Directorate, however, says they are using full capacity of the labs. The government is mulling about antibody tests besides RT-PCR process as the number of suspected patients continue to surge.

RT-PCR tests have confirmed a total of 119,198 coronavirus cases in Bangladesh, with 1,545 deaths. The government reported 3,412 new virus cases in the 24 hours to Tuesday morning after testing 16,292 samples.

Since the launch of novel coronavirus testing on Jan 21, the labs in the country have tested 627,719 samples.

Bangladesh is now positioned 17th among the countries with most coronavirus cases, according to Worldometers, a reference website that provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics.

Among the 16 countries that have more confirmed coronavirus infections than Bangladesh has, only Mexico is conducting fewer tests than Bangladesh.

The number of coronavirus tests per 1 million people in Bangladesh is 3,831 while it is 3,790 in Mexico.

Moreover, the long wait for results after going through ordeals for tests is upsetting the people.

Afroza Mukta from Dhaka’s Matuail said the doctor asked for coronavirus test after her father fell ill, but the family could not arrange the test anywhere for some days.

Finally, her father gave sample to Anwer Khan Modern Hospital on Jun 13, but the result came after four more days.  

“We experienced the unspeakable in those four days. We tried to get my father admitted to a hospital, but could not as the report was not out yet. Finally, he tested positive, but is doing well,” she said.

Nesar Uddin, a banker in Barguna, gave sample twice at the government-run general hospital in the district on Jun 13 and Jun 16 after developing Covid-19 symptoms.

Both samples were spoiled and he came to know about it on Jun 19.

“I am yet to get a report. I can’t go back to work without it. They are not even telling me whether they will collect my sample again,” he told bdnews24.com.

Md Mehedi Hasan from the capital’s Jatrabari said he gave sample at a kiosk set up at the local ward councillor’s office on Jun 10.

When he went to the centre for the result, health workers there said it takes seven to 14 days from the date of sample collection for a report to arrive.

Khulna Medical College Hospital receives around 500 samples for testing daily. Dr Sujat Ahmed, the civil surgeon of Khulna, said the hospital’s lab does not have the capacity to run so many tests, which leads to delay in results.

“We need to take samples from the 15 to 20 close contacts as well if a patient tests positive. Different hospitals are also sending samples. We are really struggling,” he said.

Kishoreganj Civil Surgeon Dr Mujibur Rahman said they collect around 350 samples every day but have to send over 250 to Dhaka as the lab in Kishoreganj is not capable of conducting all the tests.

It takes up to seven days for a report to come from Dhaka, Dr Mujibur said. “We’ve asked for more workers to conduct tests in two shifts,” he said.

Public health expert Dr Mushtuq Husain told bdnews24.com that recruiting more medical technologists and ensuring uninterrupted supply of testing kits and other materials can increase the number of tests.

Professor Dr Shahid Ullah, chief of the national technical advisory committee on coronavirus prevention, agreed.

He said bringing in more medical technologists and kits will raise the number of tests up to three times even without setting up new labs.

Abul Kalam Azad, the director general of health services, said they were trying to set up more labs and launch other modes of tests.

“It could be antigen or antibody,” he added.