Pvt lab in UP banned from conducting COVID-19 tests over discrepancy in report

A private lab here has been banned from conducting COVID-19 tests after a person declared positive by it tested negative for the disease at a government hospital in Lucknow, officials said on Thursday.

The 65-year-old woman from Baundi area was admitted to a nursing home for a surgery on Tuesday. When her samples were sent for COVID-19 testing at PathKind Labs, she was found positive for the infection, Chief Medical Officer Dr Suresh Singh said.

On Wednesday, her report from the Ram Manohar Lohia Institute in Lucknow was found negative.

"The reports cannot have that much difference in less that 24 hours. For this, a clarification has been sought from the private lab here and its Bahraich branch has been stopped from COVID-19 testing," the chief medical officer said.

The order issued to shut the nursing home, where the woman was admitted, and quarantine its staff and doctors has been withdrawn, Singh said.

Meanwhile, a pregnant woman, who was declared coronavirus positive by the private lab on Tuesday and admitted to a government hospital later, gave birth to a child on Wednesday morning.

Hospital Superintendent Dr DK Singh said samples of both the woman and her child have been sent to a government laboratory for retesting.