The Health Ministry has stated that under the guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), laboratory tests should only be taken if prescribed by a qualified physician.
Doctors busy collecting samples of suspected Coronavirus victims at the isolation ward at the Patna Medical College and Hospital. (Photo: IANS)
Faced with questions about low testing amid a spurt in the number of Coronavirus cases over the past few days, the Central government on Wednesday rejected reports that it was suppressing the actual number saying that all the protocols were followed and that the data shared was “100 per cent transparent”.
“As far as India is concerned, we are 100% transparent. We are following protocol,” Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary at the Health Ministry, said and added that the Government was moving cautiously so as to not create panic.
“The government doesn’t want to just test people for the sake of testing. We are constantly updating the number of cases within an hour,” he added.
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India has reportedly tested 11,500 samples since January 21, at the rate of around 700 per day.
Several experts have raised concerns and questions over the data shared by the Government saying cases were relatively low due to less testing and inadequate facilities.
Concerns were also raised on reports that people who had a cold, cough or fever but no travel history to the affected countries or contact with travellers, are not being tested.
However, the Health Ministry has stated that under the guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), laboratory tests should only be taken if prescribed by a qualified physician.
The government’s top medical body has argued against indiscriminate testing, saying that it was not a “practical” given the country’s size and population.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued directives for conducting more and more tests in the wake of asymptomatic patients infecting the healthy population.
However, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said the directive was country-specific and that it is not applicable for a nation like India. He said India is not yet in stage 3 of COVID-19, which is community transmission.
Bhargava conceded that private labs could be roped in to help once certain safeguards were in place.
The ICMR had called for free testing and currently, the cost of the first step screening is Rs 1,500 after which a person has to shell out Rs 3000 for an additional confirmatory test.
This comes as the confirmed cases of Coronavirus in India jumped to 147 on Wednesday with three fatalities.
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