Controversial Incident at Gyumri School No. 29 Raises Protests Over Test Result Discrepancies

A humorous incident occurred during mandatory testing of teachers at Gyumri School No. 29. While testing 65 members of the staff, 8 were found to be infected, but three of them immediately decided to retest at one of the branches of the capital's laboratory operating in Gyumri. Within a day, the results of their retests turned out to be negative.

It is also interesting that among the three teachers who were retested, two had recently contracted the virus, one of whom had been treated for severe pneumonia at the Gyumri Infectious Disease Hospital while the other was treated at home. Their initial test results were also positive, until they underwent paid testing at the Gyumri Medical Center, which contradicted the positive results.

The test results caused a lot of stress among many individuals, and the issue was even discussed at the Shirak province governor's office. In an interview with Aravot.am, the school's principal, Gayane Bichakhchyan, recounted the following: “We were asked for a list via an official letter, and we immediately responded. They informed us that they were coming to sample at our school the next day. People from Gyumri’s second polyclinic came with specialized clothing, and we provided them with a classroom for sampling. They left very satisfied that we had organized everything while maintaining social distancing and following the instructions of the emergency state.”

The process lasted about two hours. Following this, on Saturday and Sunday, teachers were called one by one, being informed that they had been in contact with infected individuals, but they were not told who those individuals were. Eventually, I confirmed that initially, three people's test results came back positive, and the other five tested positive the following day. All eight who tested positive had shown no symptoms at all, and to this day, none of them have symptoms.

Our teachers were among the first to be tested in Gyumri, which likely contributed to the uproar. Of those eight, two had contracted COVID-19, with one having been treated at home and the other at the Gyumri Infectious Disease Hospital, where they went through a tough time with the virus. After being discharged from the hospital with a negative result, they thought there would be difficulty in reinfection, which is why they went for testing again, and their test results at the Gyumri Medical Center were negative.

Following this example, two other individuals who had also tested positive opted for paid retesting, with their results coming back negative the second time. They were under a lot of stress and took the initial result very hard, with one of them being quite angry. Thus, of those eight who received positive results, three paid for double testing at the Gyumri Medical Center, and their results came back negative.

Others may have also considered retesting, but we were told that the emergency service had noted the first result and that they would still have to isolate. We are now asking for this matter to be officially clarified, so we can determine which result should be considered final, especially since those traveling abroad undergo testing at the Gyumri Medical Center.

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