Struggling to Get Tested for COVID-19: Doctor Tweets to Punjab CM

Pariminder Kaur said she is suffering from high fever, chest pain, cough, and symptoms related to COVID-19.

Representational image of a COVID-19 positive patient at a hospital.

(Photo: PTI)

A 26-year-old resident doctor of a hospital claimed on Sunday, 29 March, that she is struggling since three days for a COVID-19 test but was declined because she was asymptomatic.

Talking to media, Pariminder Kaur said her condition is not good as she is suffering from high fever, chest pain, cough, dizziness, and symptoms related to COVID-19.

She said she had requested the authorities at Guru Nanak Dev Medical College and Hospital for a COVID-19 test but they declined, saying "we should wait for some time more".

"As a 2nd year resident jn GMC, Amritsar with symptoms of nCOVID-19 but no test is yet performed, my temp is 102.3F and have shortness of breath. If I get any worse, My family will not get to meet me at all if unfortunate happens. Kindly help. @capt_amrinder," she tweeted to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday.

She told the media, "after a few hours I received a call from the CM Office telling me to go for the test and there would be no hurdle."

"The doctors at the isolation ward of the hospital were forcing me to get admitted first," she added.

“In isolation ward there are two positive patients. If I go there, I may contract COVID-19 infection if I don’t have now. The staff in the medical college are saying they are short of testing kits which would arrive shortly.”

Parminder Kaur, Resident Doctor

Asked why she was suspicious of having contracted the virus, she said she had visited the isolation ward four days back to get an N-95 mask.

Hospital Principal Sujata Sharma said, "Dr Parminder herself is a student of medicines, she knows very well about the symptoms but she is creating hype, otherwise nothing else is there."

“Our nodal officer, the professor of medicine and other experts had observed her and there are no symptoms presently and that is why her sample was not taken,” the principal said.

"We have enough stock of kits and every related material including medicines," she said.