NEW DELHI: Despite a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases led by the JN.1 sub-variant in over three weeks, test rates in India are still low, thus failing to give the actual caseloads in the country. Though the Centre has issued an advisory to states and Union Territories to step up testing, especially in view of the festival season, only a few states such as Kerala have ramped up testing.
A LocalCircles survey has also shown that Covid tests took a dip this year. The survey, conducted among 24,000 people from 303 districts between November 20 and December 18, showed that only 18 per cent of infected people — or only one in nine persons — especially those with severe symptoms, took the RT-PCR tests.
According to Kerala-based Covid data analyst Krishna Prasad NC, very few states publicly share the number of Covid tests they conduct. The surge in Covid-19 cases began on November 21, when India reported 23 fresh cases. Since then, India has reported 5,606 cases and 30 deaths, of which 4,776 cases and 17 deaths were from Kerala alone.
According to Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the National Indian Medical Association’s Covid Task Force, the general public and doctors no longer request Covid tests for people with compatible symptoms. He said that there are many reasons for people not testing, including denial, the sense that Covid is no longer a threat, and a false belief that the Covid has gone away.
India recorded 640 fresh cases on Friday, taking the country’s Covid-19 tally to 4.50 crore. The death toll has touched 5,33,328 with one more fatality reported from Kerala, as per data from the health ministry.
