Telangana government wary of accepting help from private hospitals

Hyderabad: It takes almost a full day for a person tested for Covid-19 to get their result in hand at state-run facilities. Hence, private hospitals which have got permission from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) but not from the state government are appealing that they must be allowed to test to reduce the time.

Vijaya Diagnostics and a private laboratory have been granted permission by ICMR and the state government to conduct the Covid-19 test. However, the high load of patients has been delaying the tests.

A molecular laboratory is required to test the samples. Two private hospitals in the state with the facilities have been seeking permission to test but are not being allowed due to the fear of data being leaked.

However, despite assurances that data will not be leaked, the state government is not willing to give permission.

A senior doctor said, “We have to make patients wait and they do not know why. The results take at least 24 hours and that leads to a delay in treatment. If we test in private hospitals, the time period will range from 3-6 hours. This will help in early intervention in cases with co-morbid conditions of diabetes, cancer and auto-immune disorders.”

The state government is also worried that there will be unwanted testing carried out if private hospitals are given approval. A government health official said that the tests could be carried out in private hospitals on those who have no symptoms but want to check whether they have the virus or not.

“Testing asymptomatic cases is not required. We need to test only those who have symptoms. Presently, all health officials are busy with Covid-19 contacts, quarantine and suspected cases. Who will monitor what the private hospitals are doing? Till the government hospitals can manage the numbers it is important for them to handle tests,” the government official said.