TO TEST OR NOT

As India begins to relax lockdown rules, there is a growing demand for tests on a mass scale. But it might not help

WITH DENSELY packed cities, widespread malnutrition and a rickety health infrastructure, India has little margin for error when it comes to handling the COVID-19 pandemic. But so far, the two things that have helped the country from a tsunami of cases are its past experience and staying nimble, says the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). We learned from the 2009 Swine flu epidemic, it says in a recently released Intelligent Testing Strategy. Then only two institutes—the National Institute of Virology and the National Centre for Disease Control—had the capacity to perform molecular tests essential for pathogen diagnosis. But now, there is a network of virus research and diagnostic laboratories (VRDL), 13 of which were roped in for testing in cities with international airports even before the country reported its first cases.

Imposing nationwide lockdown, dubbed the biggest and stringent, is also part of this testing strategy, ICMR says. This provided time to create adequate facilities to trace, track, test, quarantine, and treat before the disease spread uncontrollably. As on May 28, at least 641 public and private laboratories and those in research and development institutions, universities, and public and private medical colleges have been roped in to ensure that the load of testing does not overwhelm the system at any time. At places where these could not be provided, a system to transport samples to the nearest testing facility has been set up or automated machines like TrueNat have been provided, says the document.