New Delhi: India needs to ‘significantly ramp up’ the number of tests done across the country to trace COVID-19 infection cases if the pandemic is to be contained in time, experts said. Total number of positive coronavirus cases in India reached 11,933 and the death toll went up to 392 according to the Health Ministry.
Coronavirus test statistics
Data obtained from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said, till April 14, the number of samples tested stood at 2,44,893. It was an increase of 27,339 from the corresponding figure till the previous day (2,17,554).
Experts feel the figures are modest for a court of the size of 1.3 billion. ‘Much more number of tests’ are needed to combat COVID-19 outbreak in the country opined experts.
‘Worldometers.info’ maintains a global database on coronavirus cases and tests conducted. It has said that the United States, where over 26,000 COVID-19 deaths have occurred, has done 31,00,387 tests. It is an average about 9,367 per million of population.
Spain and Italy, two countries which have also seen several thousands of fatalities, have done 6,00,000 and 10,73,689 tests respectively.
The figures for India is 2,44,893 tests averaging 177 per million of population.
Expert opinions
Dr Ravi Shekhar Jha, head of the department of Pulmonology at Fortis, said India is going in the right direction but it is not enough.
“Given the massive size of our population, the number of tests needs to be ramped up. It should be conducted more rigorously. We need to do effective contact tracing and test them. This will prevent people from infecting others,” Dr Jha said.
The number of samples tested till March 28 stood at 27,688. It is a rise of 7,038 from the corresponding figure till March 27, according to ICMR data.
“The rise in number of cases happened due to tests. In the last few weeks during lockdown, people who came in contacts with affected people were traced and tested. This has to be increased manifold if we have to contain coronavirus in time. Otherwise it will be a difficult affair,” Jha pointed out.
Dr Sandeep Budhiraja of Max Healthcare said the organisation will conduct coronavirus tests on ‘all our workforce and patients across the country’. “Priority will be to test our admitted patients and new patients being brought in. And, the front-line healthcare workers,” Budhiraja said.
“India is doing lot of tests, but it is not enough compared to what the US and Singapore and other countries are doing. Much more testing needs to be done,” added Budhiraja
Another expert from a leading private hospital here, who did not wish to be named had the same opinion. “The volume of tests conducted need to be ramped up significantly to capitalise on the gains from the lockdown,” he said.
Types of tests to detect coronavirus
Two kinds of diagnostic tests are being currently used in India – RT-PCR tests and rapid antibodies tests, according to global health norms.
Dr Arvind Kumar, lung surgeon at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said the key to fighting the COVID-19 battle is ‘testing, testing and testing’. Then is the process of ‘quarantining and treating’.
“The more number of people we screen the greater our chance of winning this fight against COVID-19. The number of tests has to be significantly increased,” said Dr Kumar.
In Delhi, which has seen 1,561 cases and 30 deaths till April 14, only 16,000 samples have been tested till that period.
Agencies
