JAGATSINGHPUR: Erroneous testing and reporting of Covid-19 cases is adding fuel to the panic over the pandemic in the State.
A person from Deuligrameswar under Jagatsinghpur municipality has fallen victim to such faulty reporting as he has gone from being Covid-19 negative to positive in a single day.
The man working in the Electricity department was admitted to the SCB medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, last week and his swab sample was collected for testing on August 11.
Two days later on August 13, he was announced to be negative and discharged from the hospital.
But as soon as he reached home on Thursday, the Health department sent a report to the executive officer of the municipality that he had tested positive.
While the person and his family members were directed to be in home quarantine for 14 days, the development has caused panic among the locals.
Many of them had met the person on his arrival as they had been told that he was not infected. Irate locals have demanded immediate contact tracing besides sanitising the whole area.
Meanwhile, Covid nodal officer of Jagatsinghpur municipality Saroj Kumar Sarangi informed that no swab was collected from the patient for the second time.
“Only one sample was collected from him on August 11, which was first declared negative and then positive. After getting the information from the hospital, the administration has directed the patient along with his four family members to observe 14-day quarantine,” he said.