TS testing falls to 2.5k in 4 days

Number of Covid positive cases increasing in proportion to number of tests conducted

The pace of testing for coronavirus infections has witnessed a steep drop during the last week of April, soon after the disastrous government decision on April 21 not to test anyone without Covid-19 symptoms or those not primary contacts of Covid19 patients. According to data obtained from the Indian council for medical research (ICMR), against the

4,035 tests done between April 19 and 26, the number in the last four days of the month, from April 27 to April 30, was 2,506.

It was also in the last week of April that the state began reporting new daily cases in single digits with the government and the health department expressing hope that the spread of the virus was being contained.

According to the ICMR, which oversees the testing process across the country, the number of tests in the initial days, between March 10 and 22, was 180, which dramatically rose to 4,781 between April 5 and 11. This, according to data received from ICMR, was the highest number of tests in a week in Telangana state.

Incidentally, in the period during which the state conducted the most tests, as per ICMR data, the number of positive cases, according to a patient list in the state, was found to be 241.

The next testing period for which ICMR provided data, between April 12 and

18, was the period during which Telangana discovered the most number —

322 positive cases. After the state issued instructions on April 21 that it will restrict testing as per ICMR guidelines, the implementation of this decision reflected in the testing numbers for April

27 and April 30, when the tests came down to 2,506 and the positive cases fell steeply to 35.

Though the government has said that it will stick to ICMR guidelines on testing, concerns over the slowing pace of tests continue to be highlighted.

In a recent interview, the director for the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Dr. Rakesh K. Mishra, said the importance of testing cannot be ignored and called for sustained testing to determine the extent of the spread of the disease.

His concerns reflect those of many other doctors here as well as the World Health Organization which has repeatedly stressed on increasing the rate and pace of testing to determine the true extent of the spread of the virus in the population.