By David Lewis and Allison Martell March 1 (Reuters) - For much of last year, the coronavirus crept, undetected, across eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Test samples had to be sent more than 1,500 kilometres from remote hospitals to the capital Kinshasa. Results took weeks to come back. Some of the infected returned home, spreading the virus. In Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, bodies piled up in the morgue. Senior doctors described total confusion. Five doctors and 10 nurses were among those who died, according to one medic who spoke on condition of anonymity. It needn't have been this way. Bukavu's Provincial General Reference Hospital, like dozens of others across Congo, had access to a machine that could have processed around 100 COVID-19 tests a day, if only it had the right chemical kits, doctors there told Reuters.