Coronavirus-Does India Need To Change Its Testing Strategy? | WAT-GD-PI Topic

In our country, where people who have been tested positive, are trying to run away from quarantine facilities, where people are travelling making use of their parents’ influence-how can you be sure that everyone who has it will be tested?

While the airports are screening people for high temperature as a symptom, “smart” individuals are taking pills to reduce the temperature so as to skip the quarantine- is “selective” testing actually the right path?

The officials seem to be obsessed with the stages of transmission. They have decided it is “Stage 2” and they won’t scale up testing for “Stage 3”. Imagine the situation where even one of the patients (who actually came for testing. Not even considering the “smart” people trying to skip quarantine.) being returned has coronavirus. He could be spreading it without knowledge and not taking any precautions at all!

India should rather learn from the countries which have already committed the mistake of taking it “lightly”.  The reason that United States is seeing an exponential rise in the number of cases is that it didn’t take testing seriously. Then there are countries like Turkey that have actually been able to contain, mitigate or delay the spread by scaling up testing.

As the number of cases rise with number of deaths almost going to touch a double- digit number, “social distancing” or “lockdown” will be beneficial only when people are actually tested-the gravity of the situation is understood in its real sense. Indian officials really need to get over the obsession of “Stage 2” and get going to actually prevent from reaching “Stage 3”. Yes, the costs of testing will be huge challenge for the Indian healthcare which is already crying for more resources. Isn’t saving human lives more important than maintaining the government’s treasure?

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