Testing Tussles: Will Differences Mar India's War On The Virus?

While Centre ups numbers, experts claim less tests may ‘work better’

- Snehanshu Shekhar and Milan Sharma

Testing, less testing or no-testing? The controversy refuses to die. Till a few weeks ago those states which took pride in saying that they are conducting maximum Covid-19 tests compared to others, are now finding it difficult to meet the same energy level.

Delhi & Maharashtra, the two big hotspots states/UT, where the case load is extremely high, are new additions to this list of states. In Delhi, the controversy started after the AAP government issued a probe against labs for their pro-active testing and delay in reporting.

As per reports, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan is not impressed with the logic and has asked the Delhi government to scale up testing in the current situation. In Maharashtra, allegations are afloat that since May, the state has reduced testing, despite having the capacity to test more.

Experts are debating whether ICMR’s new guidelines, which suggest less testing, may prove counter-productive. In India, the numbers have already crossed the 2 lakhmark and trends show that by mid-June, the country is likely to have fourth highest Covid-19 cases globally. It is also a time when ICMR is scaling up testing from 1.5 lakh people per day to 2 lakh people per day by June-end. So, will excluding asymptomatic people from testing going to help the country in its battle against Covid-19?

According to the Delhi government, labs in the city were issued notices for violating ICMR norms and conducting more tests, which in turn is putting an extra load on the existing health infrastructure.