8 days for virus results tests patience of Vellore patients

They say the results are revealed only after eight days. Health officials said samples were now being tested at the Vellore Government Medical College Hospital following delay related problems in Chennai.

“The day samples are taken and the day results are announced should not be counted as two days when calculating the number of days. If this is followed results are announced in two days,” health officials added. But, this does not explain the extraordinary delay experienced by Gudiyattam residents.

The worst hit by the delay are the police personnel in the district. A few of them tested last Monday got their results only a few days ago in which two town sub inspectors and a taluk inspector tested positive. Meanwhile, a 37-year-old woman police official with a young child quarantined herself for four days and started performing her duties as usual as she received no information on the results. But, to her shock, her results came positive on Monday.She is left inconsolable now for her young child. A 21-year-old youth, who voluntarily tested himself has to face the mental trauma of worrying relatives. He too was informed late that he has tested positive for virus.

To be sure, a 37-year-old man and his 70-year-old mother who showed loss of taste and fever got themselves admitted in the Gudiyattam Government Hospital’s COVID-19 ward irrespective of waiting for the results to come with a little bit of influence. Repeated attempts to contact JD (Health Services) I Yasmim to get clarity on the issue proved futile.