False Covid negative reports cause worry in K'taka

The experts stress the need of genomic sequencing of these  patients to check if they are affected by a different variant. 

The development took place in the last week and two of the eight patients have died giving a serious turn to the issue. The hospital authorities have admitted it was a matter of serious concern, considering that there is little pressure on them after Covid second wave subsided in the city. 

However, Dr C.N. Manjunath, nodal officer for lab and testing maintained that this will happen with 5 to 8 per cent of cases across the state. People who have negative RT-PCR tests but show Covid infection symptoms in the CT scan examination will still be treated as Covid-19 patients, he added. 

The hospitals are recommending patients having Covid symptoms despite negative reports to undergo CT scan test. The quality of the test kits also matters in this regard, experts say. 

However, false negative reports on Covid infection have become a cause of worry for the people.