BENGALURU: The number of people turning up at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) for novel coronavirus tests has increased five-fold in three days, after a Telangana engineer who works in Bengaluru tested positive for COVID-19 in Hyderabad.
Institute director C Nagaraja said on Wednesday, “We saw about 95 patients yesterday. Today, the number increased to 110, with 26 throat swabs taken for testing. We would get 10-15 patients a day till Monday.”
A staff member of the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute said most of the people who turned up for screening were asymptomatic and their number saw a rise.
Several companies have issued advisories to their employees, contributing to the higher number of people turning up for testing. Some advisories ask the employees to get tested if they are symptomatic or have travelled abroad recently. Some firms have even told their staffers to work from home for the next week.
Arun Kumar, an engineer who works at a private company in Bellandur said, “I had been to Switzerland, Italy, France and Germany for a month and came back on February 26. I was to go to office from March 3, but I got a mail from my office saying I need to get myself checked. Though I have no symptoms, I came for a check-up. I’ve been asked to work from home for a week.”
Long wait
Several people complained of long waiting hours for tests. Rekha took her 67-year-old mother for screening after she developed cough and severe headache upon their return from Dubai. “A private hospital asked us to get tested. It took us five hours. It is really slow. When people are standing together, it is scary as we do not know who has the virus.”
Dr Anoop Amarnath, chief of clinical services at Manipal Hospital on Old Airport Road said, “We have given clear directions to our clinicians, as to who has to be screened.”Dr Deepak Balani, chief of medical services at Sakra World Hospital said, “We are getting 20-40 patients (of late) on a daily basis. Not one has tested positive yet. However, we have got a few influenza and H1N1 cases.”
Where coronavirus screening is done
Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Child Health Disease
Fortis Hospital
Manipal Hospital
Apollo Hospital
BMCRI: State Level Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory