Kids wait 24 days for corona results
Health authorities yesterday conceded they are 'overwhelmed' with a growing backlog of pending coronavirus test results, with children of an infected mother still waiting for the outcome of tests taken on 23 June.
OGONE TLHAGE
WINDHOEK
A Covid-19 positive Walvis Bay mother who has been in isolation for a month says she is still waiting for the results of a second batch of tests done on her children on 23 June. The children's results are among 3000 that, according to the health ministry, are still pending nationwide.
The children, one aged three years and another aged nine months, are quarantined with their mother at a state facility.
The mother, who said several other women continue to be isolated with their babies, said she is also in the dark about the results of her second coronavirus test.
The woman and two of her children have been in isolation since she tested positive for Covid-19 on 18 June.
A subsequent test was done on 7 July.
“A test was conducted but I am still waiting for the result. My children were tested on 23 June. The results are taking too long to come out. Since my first test I do not know where I stand,” she said.
Testing backlog
The Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP) and the private pathology lab Pathcare, which are assisting the ministry of health with tests for Covid-19, have tested 16 305 samples so far. The executive director of the ministry of health, Ben Nangombe, acknowledged the backlog and said the ministry was rolling out more testing facilities. “It has been acknowledged that there is a backlog. That is why the NIP is working flat out to resolve that backlog. We have indicated that we are bringing on testing platforms at Oranjemund with Namdeb and the University of Namibia,” he said.
Health minister Dr Kalumbi Shangula, speaking to Namibian Sun yesterday, further explained that targeting mass testing delayed the outcome of the results.
“When we started, we tested 33 samples, then 50 and then 100. Yesterday we tested 834 samples,” he said. Further delaying the outcome of results was the lack of reagents needed in some of the machines that are used to test for Covid-19.
According to Shangula, they are in short supply globally. He pointed out that the backlog would be dealt with and that results would become available more quickluy.
The ministry of agriculture has also been consulted to help with testing, Nangombe said.
Contact tracing
Nangombe said the availability of test results also had to do with active searches being conducted by the ministry to trace people who have been in contact with Covid-19 patients.
Nangombe asked for patience.
“We are calling for patience from the people … but at the same time we cannot give up on the targeted mass testing approach,” Nangombe said.
WINDHOEK
A Covid-19 positive Walvis Bay mother who has been in isolation for a month says she is still waiting for the results of a second batch of tests done on her children on 23 June. The children's results are among 3000 that, according to the health ministry, are still pending nationwide.
The children, one aged three years and another aged nine months, are quarantined with their mother at a state facility.
The mother, who said several other women continue to be isolated with their babies, said she is also in the dark about the results of her second coronavirus test.
The woman and two of her children have been in isolation since she tested positive for Covid-19 on 18 June.
A subsequent test was done on 7 July.
“A test was conducted but I am still waiting for the result. My children were tested on 23 June. The results are taking too long to come out. Since my first test I do not know where I stand,” she said.
Testing backlog
The Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP) and the private pathology lab Pathcare, which are assisting the ministry of health with tests for Covid-19, have tested 16 305 samples so far. The executive director of the ministry of health, Ben Nangombe, acknowledged the backlog and said the ministry was rolling out more testing facilities. “It has been acknowledged that there is a backlog. That is why the NIP is working flat out to resolve that backlog. We have indicated that we are bringing on testing platforms at Oranjemund with Namdeb and the University of Namibia,” he said.
Health minister Dr Kalumbi Shangula, speaking to Namibian Sun yesterday, further explained that targeting mass testing delayed the outcome of the results.
“When we started, we tested 33 samples, then 50 and then 100. Yesterday we tested 834 samples,” he said. Further delaying the outcome of results was the lack of reagents needed in some of the machines that are used to test for Covid-19.
According to Shangula, they are in short supply globally. He pointed out that the backlog would be dealt with and that results would become available more quickluy.
The ministry of agriculture has also been consulted to help with testing, Nangombe said.
Contact tracing
Nangombe said the availability of test results also had to do with active searches being conducted by the ministry to trace people who have been in contact with Covid-19 patients.
Nangombe asked for patience.
“We are calling for patience from the people … but at the same time we cannot give up on the targeted mass testing approach,” Nangombe said.
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