Bihar villager raises doubt on wife testing Corona positive

Bhagalpur — A piquant situation arose here on Tuesday when the husband of a COVID-19 patient alleged that his wife was declared positive without her sample having been collected for testing.

Officials, however, dismissed the claim and asserted that the womans sample was collected and sent for testing after she was found symptomatic when a team conducting door-to-door screening reached her house.

The husband of the patient, who is admitted to a hospital in the town, let out a cry when he reached his home at Mathurapur village in Kahalgaon block of the district and alleged that he was taken away to a quarantine centre by medical and police officials, who claimed that his wife had tested positive.

My daughters were also taken to a quarantine center where they are still lodged. I was discharged today after I was told my test reports are negative. But how did my wife test positive when she never gave her sample, the husband asked.

Her daughters said to be in their teens said the same when they were spoken to over phone and alleged we kept pleading with the authorities when they came to our place on May 03 that there was some misunderstanding. But nobody listened to us. Our mother has been banished to an isolation ward while we are here at a quarantine center.

However, deputy superintendent of the sub divisional hospital at Kahalgaon, Lakhan Murmu rubbished the allegations and said the woman was found symptomatic during door-to-door screening on April 01.

"She was asked to stay in home quarantine and on May 01 her sample was collected at the Sharda Pathshala school premises which is serving both as a quarantine centre as well as a testing centre, he said. Incidentally, both daughters of the woman have been kept at the Sharda Pathshala. However, they along with their father have the common refrain she (the patient) never visited Sharda Pathshala.

The husband also cites discrepancies like the womans age having been stated to be 26 years though her Aadhar card states that she was born on January 01, 1985.

The medical officer was tight-lipped on this claim and insisted that the authorities had acted on the basis of symptoms that the woman presented during screening and test reports came after her sample was collected in due course.

Meanwhile, Pintu Ram a former headman of the concerned Panchayat expressed concern over the episode and demanded a high-level inquiry.

The woman and her family members have underwent enormous mental trauma and their neighbors made to live in fear of the contagion. The lapse is indicative of a terrible mix up which could have serious consequences.

"Apparently, the woman has been mistaken for some other COVID 19 patient who might be still at his or her home, with people around exposed to the infection", he added.