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Govt. lab techs, nurses urge more testing

26 Aug 2021

BY Dinitha Rathnayake College of Medical Laboratory Science (CMLS) President Ravi Kumudesh urged the Government to increase PCR and rapid antigen test (RAT) Covid-19-related testing to 100,000 tests per day, from its present 25,000 a day. “If the Government wants to keep Covid-19 hotspots open, it must increase testing. We can increase testing to 100,000 a day but we have only been doing fewer than 25,000 tests.” Kumudesh also urged the Health Ministry to remove restrictions on private labs to conduct RATs. In June 2021, the Health Ministry had issued a circular that banned private labs from conducting RATs. Subsequently, the Ministry allowed around eight private labs to conduct RATs. The circular banning the RATs had been issued at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic was at Level 3 in terms of severity, whereas now, the severity level has risen to Level 5. “It is obvious that these guidelines do not suit the ground realities of today. Since we are in Colombo, we don’t understand this situation. A lot of medical experts have also pointed this out and they too have called for the lifting of the ban.“ Meanwhile, speaking to the media, Government Nursing Officers’ Association (GNOA) President Saman Rathnapriya also stressed that, at present, there is a need to increase PCR tests and RATs. “On 21 August 2021, 19,963 PCR tests and 5,473 RATs were completed and the total is around 25,436. However, according to the statistics released on 25 August, it clearly shows that only 14,356 PCR tests and 3,302 RATs tests, in total – 17658 tests, were conducted. This means that within a few days, there has been a reduction in testing by 7,778.” According to Rathnapriya, this clearly shows that the Government wants to reduce the numbers of identified Covid-19 patients. “From 8 August 2021, till this week, the statistics clearly show that 722 people died in hospitals while 85 died at homes, which amounts to 16% in total. Accordingly, 49 died while being admitted to hospitals or en route.” Sri Lanka is currently experiencing a surge in the Covid-19 Delta (B.1.617.2) variant of Indian origin across the country, resulting in increased daily Covid-19 cases and deaths.


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