Not enough Covid tests in Maha, say experts

If experts are to be believed, the number of positive patients in Maharashtra may be much higher than the one-lakh-mark it crossed on Friday, as the state is testing

If experts are to be believed, the number of positive patients in Maharashtra may be much higher than the one-lakh-mark it crossed on Friday, as the state is testing to only 39% of their daily capacity. The state government, however, says there is no need for random testing.

HT Image

In March, when the state reported its first case of novel coronavirus, only one laboratory— National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune – was conducting the tests. Now, after 94 days of the outbreak of the virus, the number of testing labs in the state has increased to 97, an addition of almost one lab per day. Of these, 57 are government laboratories, while the remaining private. This has increased the total testing capacity to 38,000 samples per day. But an analysis of the data done by HT shows, despite having the testing facilities, the state is conducting a maximum of 15,000 tests per day.

In the past 10 days, the testing capacity has increased by 26%. On June 2, 12,440 tests were conducted, which increased to 13,793 the next day. It fell slightly to 12,559 on June 4, but increased to 12,866 on June 5 and surged further to 14,007 the next day. However, on June 8, 12,227 tests were done which gradually increased to 14,004 on June 9 and 15,988 on June 10. The next day, 15,508 tests were done, and a slight increase was recorded on June 12 with 15,731 cases. Currently, 19 of every 100 tests come positive.

According to experts, if the state had done daily tests to their maximum capacity, the number of positive cases would have gone above one lakh earlier.

“Testing should be the only mantra to identify carriers among the crowd to stop its further spread. Now, with the relaxation of lockdown, the chances of spread of infection are more. Other than the current testing procedure (RT-PCR), we need a more sophisticated strategy for diagnosis,” said Anant Bhan, global health expert.

Experts say a large number of people could be asymptomatic or silent spreaders, as they carry Covid-19 pathogens without any symptoms. Even though the chance of the spread of infection through them is low, they are still infectious.

On May 18, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) declared that asymptomatic high-risk contact of Covid patients can be tested without prescriptions. Despite this, there is no clarity among coordinators of the helpline of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and private laboratories. Also, high-risk contacts, too, struggle for tests.

However, state health officers have claimed that adequate number of tests is being done based on the protocols laid down by the ICMR. “Random testing is not feasible because it increases the chance of false negatives, where a person shows a negative report but is infected. As we are doing high-risk-based testing, our results are better. In private labs, per 100, we are getting 19 positive patients. While in government labs, the infection rate is 19.5%,” said Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, director of Medical Education and Drugs Department (MEDD). “These guidelines are being made by experts who have years of experience. So, people need to trust them,” he added.