The Delhi government has issued a show-cause notice to several laboratories for testing asymptomatic patients for the novel coronavirus, i...
The Delhi government has issued a show-cause notice to several laboratories for testing asymptomatic patients for the novel coronavirus, in violation of the guidelines set by the Indian Council of Medical Research, India Today reported on Wednesday.
“By reviewing the data submitted by you in the ICMR portal and the H&FW [Health and Family Welfare] department, it has been observed that a large number of asymptomatic patients were tested without following the ICMR protocol on May 30 and 31,” the notice reads. The notice has been set to seven private labs and the prominent government laboratory National Centre for Disease Control, NDTV reported on Thursday.
All these private laboratories and NCDC have refuted the allegations. In its response to the notice, the centre told the Aam Aadmi Party government that the ICMR protocol applies to collection centres where individuals can get tested. As NCDC does not collect samples, it does not fall within the purview of the notice.
“How can the Delhi government send us a notice?” NCDC Director Dr Surjeet Singh said. “Under what authority? Does it even come under their purview? We test samples from across India. We have sent them a reply.”
The state government has also accused central-run Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital of giving 45% erroneous...
