Dehradun: Uttarakhand’s coronavirus disease (Covid-19) test count per lakh population has been found 18% less than the national average, despite the hill state’s decent recovery rate from the viral infection, data showed.
Uttarakhand is ranked 10th as far the Covid-19 tests are concerned in comparison to other hill states and union territories (UTs).
Data shared by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) showed that the state’s test count per lakh population is 636, as compared to the national average of 776, which works out to 18% or 140 tests less than the pan-India figure.
Neighbouring Himachal Pradesh has done 80% more Covid-19 tests than Uttarakhand.
While UT Ladakh has topped the hill state and UT category and its test count is seven times more than Uttarakhand.
Anoop Nautiyal, the founder of Dehradun-based think tank Social Development for Communities that has been analysing the Covid-19 data in the hill state, said Uttarakhand has been lagging behind in conducting tests, despite a concerted bid to ramp up the daily count of late.
“North-eastern states are also known for hostile terrain. But they have conducted more tests per lakh population than Uttarakhand. The 2011 Census shows the state’s population of around one core and by that figure, it has tested 732 people per lakh population. While the UTs of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh have conducted 3,388 and 4,944 tests, respectively. Only Mizoram ranks after Uttarakhand with 708 tests per lakh population,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“North-eastern states are also known for hostile terrain. But they have conducted more tests per lakh population than Uttarakhand. The 2011 Census shows the state’s population of around one core and by that figure, it has tested 732 people per lakh population. While the UTs of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh have conducted 3,388 and 4,944 tests, respectively. Only Mizoram ranks after Uttarakhand with 708 tests per lakh population,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}The average figures were calculated based on the 2011 Census for all the states.
In the case of UTs of J&K and Ladakh, the population is considered to be 1.22 crore and 3 lakh, respectively.
In Uttarakhand, Dehradun is the first district to conduct over 1,000 tests per lakh population.
In the plains, Haridwar district, the most populous district, has conducted the least number of tests.
While hilly districts like Rudraprayag and Champawat have done most tests per lakh population in that category of far-flung parts of the Himalayan state.