‘COVID deaths due to late detection’

Ramp up testing to curb crisis situations, says senior official

Senior Central government officer Krishnamoorthy (name changed) has been pretty active throughout the pandemic touring the national capital and various cities and villages of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh but has been infected in this current nationwide second wave. “I always took utmost precautions and was never without a mask in public but despite my best efforts, I got the virus. My symptoms are mild and am in home quarantine but my complaint is about inadequate testing facilities and the long time it takes to get the results, which I feel is causing more hospitalisations,” he says. The senior official, who also held key posts in the twin cities, wanted to get himself tested in a private laboratory after he realised the mild fever was refusing to go. “I went to a diagnostic centre where I was informed that while the test could be done soon, the results can be expected in 72 hours only,” he explains.