Mad rush for rapid testing sparks fear of virus spread
Bhubaneswar: The state government’s rapid antibody testing system here may have evoked overwhelming response in the last two days, but social distancing continues to be the cause of concern.
The chances of Covid-19 spread was discernible at the Unit-I Girls’ High School where the government conducted the rapid antibody test on Monday.
There was chaos and mad rush of people that included journalists, healthcare workers, sanitation workers, home delivery personnel and vegetable vendors at the school where the test was organised by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the health department. As the BMC, health department officials and police were struggling to insist people to maintain social distancing, panic gripped the place when an unconfirmed report of a man having tested positive during the antibody test started doing the rounds. A number of people, who were in queue, started deserting the place without undergoing the rapid test.
“We repeatedly requested people to maintain distance in the queue. Despite our requests, people were seen chatting with each other in close proximity. We also found police hapless and not being able to streamline the crowd,” a BMC official said.
Some from the crowd were apprehensive and wondered if anyone, who tested positive in antibody test, would pose a threat to others gathered at the testing camp.
“I am scared after talks started doing the rounds that a man tested positive during the rapid antibody test. If this happens, such congregations in testing camps are very risky,” said Lelin Mallick, who underwent a rapid test today and tested negative.
Health officials dispelled the apprehension of people. “Rapid antibody test is a serology test to ascertain presence of any virus in the body. A person, who tests positive during the rapid test, may not be detected positive for Covid-19 during Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test. We will collect the swab samples of those who test positive during the rapid test,” a health official said.
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