CQC inmates slam ineffective and unsystematic testing procedure, draw attention for urgent intervention
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 15 2020: Inmates of Community Quarantine Centre (CQC), Kakching Public School, have drawn the attention of concerned authority regarding the issues and grievances faced by them and other inmates of different quarantine centres across the State.

The CQC at Kakching Public School is managed under the supervision and guidance of the concerned district authority and largely helped by the parents/guardians of the inmates, said a statement of the inmates.

There are total of 50 inmates presently staying at the centre and all had returned via flights from May 25 to 27 and thus all the respective inmates have already completed their quarantine period, it said.

The sample collection for RT-PCR test for the inmates was done on June 5 except for one inmate with co-morbidity issue which was done on June 3 and after a span of 7 days, the results of 33 inmates (19 male & 14 female) were received on June 12, with no information of test results being provided for the remaining 17 inmates (11 male & 6 female) including the inmate with co-morbidity, it said.

And also the information regarding the test results of the 33 inmates was neither officially informed by the concerned authority to the nodal officer nor briefed to quarantine inmates.

Unfortunately, further test results issued by the State Health Department do not include the results of remaining 17 inmates with no clear-cut information being briefed by the concerned authority, it continued.

Appealing for an immediate clarification and systematic actions, the inmates questioned why the RT-PCR test was not done together for inmates of a particular quarantine centre after the samples are being collected on the same day and why there seems to be illogical random selection of samples for testing.

They continued to questioned why the concerned authority are not able to systemically organize for efficient testing procedure and in giving priority to inmates with medical conditions.

They also asked why there is lapse or no timely apprisal of the test results by the concerned authority to inmates through the representative nodal officer.

As most of the cases are asymptomatic, will the negative results of inmates be considered valid if an individual from remaining inmates of the same quarantine centre is tested positive for COVID-19 with the delayed result, they asked while adding that it will be a wastage of the resources as well as unnecessary extension of quarantine period for inmates in case of re-test due to inefficient and unsystematic testing procedure.

"We believe that these issues related to inefficient and unorganized testing procedure somehow lead to more positive cases being detected during the quarantine stay and also hinder our fight against COVID-19 pandemic in the State.

And also due to the delay of test result Community Quarantine Centre(s) like ours are facing issues both financially and in maintaining the overall wellness of the centre," the statement read.

Being a responsible citizen, no inmate want to be a threat to the society and the State as a whole, it said while adding that they have decided to leave the quarantine only after the results of all the inmates are received and tested negative.

While requesting the concerned authority to look into our issues with immediate effect they also made a strong appeal to systematically organize all the testing procedure so as to efficiently fight against the COVID-19 .

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