PESHAWAR: A huge difference has surfaced in the reports of health department and Provincial Disaster Management Authority regarding Covid-19 testing following a strike by health workers involved in collection of samples from the suspected patients in the province.

PDMA runs a project to look after sampling and testing matters regarding coronavirus through Sybrid, a private IT company, in 28 districts of the province. It collected field reports through rapid response teams (RRTs). The reports were dispatched to health department, which prepared Covid-19 daily situation report.

On Tuesday, the health department’s report said that a total of 6,013 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours while the report prepared from the field said that only 101 tests were done during the same period.

A day before, the former claimed in its report that a total of 5,095 samples from suspected patients were tested whereas the field reports put the number at 306.

Health dept claims conducting 6,013 tests during last 24 hours while field workers put the number at 101

The samples were collected by RRTs from the designated people as well as contacts of the confirmed patients that were sent to laboratories for analysis.

However, the RRTs have stopped collecting samples from the field over non-payment of their dues of 13 months which has led to decline in cases as well as screening of people.

Officials at the health department told Dawn that there were many RRT members, who were still working because their dues were released.

“The strike has affected our sample collections and contact-tracing of positive people but we still manage to conduct 6,000 tests which also include swabs taken from people at sentinel sites through staff of the hospitals,” they said.

The officials said they had modern services through which accurate reports were generated as per guidelines of National Command and Operation Centre that were included in the national report.

“There is decline in tests but we are trying to persuade the RRTs to resume their work and enable the department to conduct over 10,000 tests per day. Prior to the strike, we were doing more tests than the target,” they added.

Provincial Doctors Association in a statement wondered as to how health department could claim to conduct 6,000 tests per day when all 230 teams were on strike demanding their unpaid dues.

It said that the huge difference between the reports was a matter of grave concern and gave rise to suspicions about the way the Covid-19 was being handled.

It said that the doctors, epidemiologists and technicians, tasked to conduct rapid tests and send 30 per cent of the positive swabs for PCRs, were not provided with fuel to perform their field duty due to which they stopped work.

The members of RRTs said they used their own vehicles to go to remote areas in 28 districts but they were denied payment despite several requests and as last resort they went o strike to make their voice heard.

Meanwhile, the province’s mortalities due to coronavirus reached 6,210 with 13 more deaths in Peshawar, two in Kohat and one in Mardan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has so far recorded 215,337 cases of the infectious ailment.

According to a report, 199,535 affected including 758 patients recorded during the last 24 hours have recovered and the province is home to 9,576 active cases.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2022