COVID-19: India’s Testing Rate Lower Than Other Nations, Says WHO Chief Scientist

Hyderabad: Noting that lockdown was a temporary measure to contain the spread of coronavirus, a senior official of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday said that India has a low testing rate when compared to some of the countries that are successfully trying to curb it. The Chief Scientist of WHO, Soumya Swaminathan, in an interactive session through video conference said, as of now about 28 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are under clinical trial, of which five are entering Phase-II and over 150 candidates are in pre-clinical trials across the globe.

Also Read: DCGI Gives Nod To Serum Institute To Hold Phase II, III COVID Vaccine Trials

India as a whole, the testing rates are much lower compared to some of the countries, who have done well like Germany, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan. Even the United States is testing a huge number of people. So we need to have some benchmark and every public health department needs to have benchmarks on what is the rate of testing per lakh or per million, what is the test positivity rate, she said.

Without adequate number of tests, fighting the virus is like “fighting fire blindfolded,” she pointed out. According to Ms. Swaminathan, the number of tests being conducted is not adequate if the COVID-19 test positivity rate is above five per cent. Governments need to constantly monitor the availability of beds, quarantine facilities, ICUs (Intensive Care Unit) and oxygen supplies in district hospitals.

So there is a set of 8 to 10 indicators that the government needs to keep a close watch on. And you can ramp up or ramp down based on what you are seeing on the ground, she said.

Observing that the scientists’ community was still studying the body’s immune response to coronavirus and the next 12 months were crucial to put in place the public health and social measures, she said the virus has spread to every country in the world and “established community transmission”.

We know that lockdowns are temporary measures or a temporary measure which reduces the spread because it prevents people from getting closer together and the idea of the lockdown is to buy time for the government to put in place the system needed to tackle the virus, the WHO official said.

Also Read: India’s COVID Case Fatality Rate 2.15 Per Cent, Lowest Since Lockdown Started

On the ongoing vaccine trials, she said the WHO has issued guidelines on it and if the efficacy rate of the vaccine is 70 per cent, then it is considered to be a good one. On the COVAX facility, a mechanism designed to guarantee rapid, fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, Ms. Swaminathan said by the end of 2021 it is aimed to deliver two billion doses of safe, effective vaccines that have passed regulatory approval and/or WHO prequalification.

All the 194 member countries of the WHO need to come together and take a decision on the way they want to proceed for the equitable and fair distribution of vaccine (once successfully comes out) and other products that are being developed for COVID-19, she opined. Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech, which is into developing Covaxin, a vaccine candidate for COVID-19, said the Centre needs to decentralise some of the regulating authorities such as Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for faster approvals. Telangana Minister for IT and Industries KT Rama Rao acted as a moderator for the session titled The Vaccine Race-Balancing Science and Urgency.

Also Read: Difficult To Predict If India Will See Second Wave Of COVID-19: Indian Council Of Medical Research Chief

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.