Mandya MLA alleges mix-up in test reports

Mandya: JD(S) MLA C S Puttaraju has made an allegation against the district administration, saying a mix-up on the part of officers has led to serious lapses with regard to the treatment of two girls, aged seven and 11.
According to the MLA, the 7-year-old, despite not having the infection, was wrongly declared as positive and sent to the isolation ward. On the other hand, the 11-year-old girl, whose throat swab was also collected on the same day, was wrongly declared as negative and sent to a quarantine centre.The samples of the girls from Ranebennur and Mumbai were collected on May 18, and the results were out on May 21.
“The mix-up has landed the girls at wrong places. Worse still, the district administration has concealed this glaring lapse in its health bulletins,” Puttaraju said, seeking to know as to how the Ranebennur girl was wrongly declared as positive, and the other, as negative. “The tests results were swapped, and the officers behind this must be punished. A thorough inquiry must be conducted,” he said.
However, DC Venkatesh rejected the charge, saying: “There is no truth in the MLA’s allegation. When we tested the girl from Mumbai, her test result turned out to be negative. But she was positive when we tested her again as per Covid-19 protocol. Since Covid-19 testing process cannot be accurate — as it always depends on the incumbent period of coronavirus — the throat swab test of the Mumabai girl may not have turned out to be positive when she was tested for the first time. As far as the Ranebennur girl is concerned, her test was proved positive. When both the tests of both the girls are positive, what is there to hide from the public?” Venkatesh asked.
Meanwhile on Monday, the district registered two positive cases, taking the total to 252. So far, 26 patients have been cured and discharged from the hospital. The authorities are awaiting the test results of 1,609 cases.