Mumbai’s largest private laboratory for COViD-19 testing, Metropolis, has just been prohibited from conducting COVID-19 tests in the city as per an order issued by the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation). In its order, the BMC states delays in testing as the primary reason for these restrictions while also specifying that this could create hurdles for contact tracing and consequently lead to more deaths.
Previously, Mumbai had barred private laboratory Thyrocare from conducting tests in the city, though the lab has been permitted to operate in the city again. Thyrocare was banned in Thane over alleged false positives. Additionally, the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation has reportedly sent a notice to the lab over its deficiencies.
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As for Metropolis, the lab defends itself claiming that the delay in tests was primarily due to the fact that a large portion of the staff contracted the coronavirus. The BMC, in its order, claimed that Thyrocare was violating the mandatory 24-hour turnaround time for COVID-19 tests over a period of 10 days. Under BMC’s protocols, COVID-19 tests are to be handed over to the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) within 24-hours of collecting the samples.
In the lab’s defence, Managing Director of Metropolis, Ameera Shah, said - “COVID testing is a highly manual process. This requires highly skilled workers.”
“When our employees get sick or when our employees don't show up to work in fear or (when) vendors don't provide kits on time, we're stuck and we're not able to provide the results on time, in 24-hour turnaround time,” Shah added.
Mumbai is currently one of the worst affected cities in terms of COVID-19 cases, and the number seems to be growing each day though some areas have seen a reduction in cases. Authorities have predicted that cases are likely to come down by the end of June, but this will be contingent on the safety measures adopted by Mumbaikars.
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