Residents opt for home collection of samples for medical tests amid 'O' scare

BHUBANESWAR: The detection of the Omicron variant has led to a drop in footfalls at pathological laboratories for routine blood, urine and other tests as well as visit to doctors.

People now rather prefer to call technicians for home collection of samples. The demand for home collection for lipid profile (for cholesterol), diabetes, kidney function test, liver function test and thyroid increased soon after the first wave fizzled out.

During the peak of second wave, the home collection of samples also peaked. It fell after the second wave gradually waned and people got vaccinated.

Sunil Mishra, a home collection boy for a private pathological laboratory, said for the past two weeks, they have had to handle more calls than they had been attending to.

"For a diabetic patient, we have to go twice for fasting and post prandial (after meal). Accordingly we set our time and attend to other patients during the gap. But now it is difficult to collect the after meal sample because of the rush. Even for routine urine test, people are calling us to collect the sample from home as they are apprehensive of Covid infection," Mishra said.

People are keen to defer other diagnostics and minor procedures such as endoscopy of throat and stomach, CT scan, MRI and ultrasound.

"The doctor I consulted advised me ultrasound to see if I have fatty liver. After I found that Omicron has been detected in Odisha, I called up the doctor to ask whether it can be deferred. He said it can wait. I felt relaxed. I think we should avoid visiting hospitals as much as possible," said Radheshyam Behera, a resident of Kanan Vihar, Bhubaneswar.

The outpatient department (OPD) of government hospitals, medical colleges and private hospitals are yet to witness any significant drop in the patients' footfall.

"Though there is drop in people coming to the hospitals, those coming seem cautious, which is good. There may be a drop in footfall in the future," said Lalit Meher, director, Vimsar, Burla.

Bhubanananda Maharana, emergency officer at SCB Medical College and Hospital, said the daily footfall of around 6,000 patients in the OPD remains intact.