The Nawaloka Hospital in Colombo has issued a statement with regard to the announcement of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka pertaining to the hospital’s suspension as a designated hospital for PCR and IgM antibody tests for the coronavirus for people travelling to China.
Earlier, the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka said several passengers from Sri Lanka holding the negative reports of PCR and IgM antibody tests issued by the Nawaloka Hospital have been diagnosed as COVID-19 patients upon their arrival in China.
The Embassy further said in order to ensure the health and safety of all passengers to China, it will suspend Nawaloka Hospital as the designated hospital for PCR and IgM antibody tests, adding that it will not accept the reports of the tests issued by the hospital from today(13).
Responding to the statement, the Nawaloka Hospital has said it will stand by the original PCR test results released by the hospital, after fully authenticating each sample.
Stating that the subjects who underwent PCR testing at the hospital are employees of the same Chinese company, the hospital said they were negative for COVID-19 on the PCR tests conducted by the hospital before departure, but tested positive 72 hours after, upon their arrival in China.
The hospital further said that these individuals could have been incubating the virus when they were first tested to clear them for departure, a time period when any Covid-test would yield a negative result.
Pointing out that it is a common occurrence, the Nawaloka Hospital said research has proven that COVID-19 cannot be always detected with a PCR test during the incubation period of the virus within the body.
The hospital further highlighted similar occurrences being reported in Sri Lanka, among foreign travellers who had arrived in the country with a negative PCR result at the time of departure but later found to be positive upon their arrival in the country.
The Nawaloka Hospital added that it was in the process of discussing the matter with the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka. (NewsWire)
