People in Kerala no longer keen on testing as second wave of Covid-19 wanes

The Health department conducts mass testing in the locations where there seems to be high virus spread and encourages people in the contact lists to test themselves.  
The overall test numbers have not increased to the pre-lockdown period though the health experts have demanded increasing the number. (Photo | Express Illustrations)
The overall test numbers have not increased to the pre-lockdown period though the health experts have demanded increasing the number. (Photo | Express Illustrations)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Health department is unlikely to increase the number of Covid tests anytime  soon as the number of people willing to undergo tests has come down considerably. The decrease in the prevalence of disease in the second wave and lockdown are cited as the reasons for the public keeping away from  testing. This attitude would perhaps explain why the test positivity rate has not decreased below 10% despite the lockdown measures. 

“Three or four weeks ago, there was a good demand  from councillors to organise Covid testing in their respective wards. Now, they say people are not willing to undergo testing. The decline in the number of cases may have made them find excuses for not coming forward to undergo testing,” said Dr Anish T S, assistant professor at the Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram. 

The Health department conducts mass testing in the locations where there seems to be high virus spread and encourages people in the contact lists to test themselves.The overall test numbers have not increased to the pre-lockdown period though the health experts have demanded increasing the number to determine the trajectory of the second wave. The average number of tests conducted in the three days before lockdown was announced as 1,54,432 while the same in the last three days was 1,03,502.

The majority of the tests are conducted at 26 public labs and 65 labs in the private sector. However, the lockdown restrictions and low number of testing in private labs have dragged the total number of tests. The health department has introduced 10 mobile testing units to augment the number of tests during the second wave. It also plans to add four more units by June 15. 

“The private labs are operating below capacity. While some labs are discouraging RT-PCR testing due to the low profit margin, the number of people walking into labs for antigen tests has also reduced. Private labs used to get a lot of travellers for testing. Now, that has stopped and I also see a general reluctance to get tested,” said C Balachandran, managing director of Jeeva Specialty Laboratory and a member of Private RT-PCR Labs Consortium. The private labs are aggrieved after the state government reduced the price of RT-PCR tests from Rs 1,700 to Rs 500 on April 29. 

According to health experts, a large number of people have also decided not to undergo Covid testing and instead undergo two weeks of quarantine. However, this strategy might not be safe. “There have been several cases of Covid spreading within families. Many people think it would be better not to test if they do not have any discomfort. But they, in turn, spread the infection to others,” said state secretary of Indian Medical Association Dr Gopikumar P.

Health expert Dr Arun N M said a person who has tested positive would be more responsible in preventing the spread than a person who is unaware of his infection. A lot of people infected could be asymptomatic and they could pass on the infection to others who are more vulnerable.

Tests and TPR

Three-day average of tests done before May 8: 1,54,432
Three-day average of tests done before June 13: 1,03,502
Seven-day average TPR as on May 8: 28.25%
Seven-day average TPR as on June 13: 13.3%

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The New Indian Express
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