Epidemiologists, doctors say that states showing a rising TPR should test more.
New Delhi: As India crosses 3 lakh positive Covid-19 cases, the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) in the country has doubled over the last one month, indicating a wider spread of the infection.
The Test Positivity Rate in India which was around 3.8% in the first week of May has now risen to more than 7%.
Test Positivity Rate is the percentage of people turning out to be positive for Covid-19 among the total number of people tested for Covid-19.
According to ICMR’s data, the country has tested more than 5,30,000 people over the last three months, among which more than 3 lakh people have turned out to be positive. However, more than 50% of the case load for Covid-19 has been restricted to four states—Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Gujarat—which together account for more than 1,93,000 positive Covid-19 cases among the total 3 lakh positive cases in India.
The TPR in Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat has also been much higher than the national average. For example, the national capital of Delhi has one of the highest Test Positivity rates in the country. Delhi currently has a TPR of 12.7% which is almost double the national rate. Delhi has also seen an average growth rate of infected persons by 5% over the last one week.
The Test Positivity Rate in Delhi has also seen a significant rise over the first week of June when the national capital was recording over 26% in TPR. In the first week of June (June 1-9), out of the 43,681 tests conducted, a little over 26% of those tested turned out to be Covid-19 positive.
Maharashtra, which is one of the worst affected states in the country, is also seeing a Test Positivity Rate of about 13%. Gujarat is also seeing a Test Positivity Rate which is much higher than the national average. The TPR in Gujarat is around 11%.
Out of the total 2,72,000 people tested for Covid-19 in Gujarat, more than 22,000 people have turned out to be positive so far.
Epidemiologists and doctors say that the increase in the Test Positivity Rate indicates an increase in the rate of infection among the population and that the states that have been showing an increasing TPR should also be testing more. Some also say that the increased TPR could also indicate that the states are only testing symptomatic patients. In the case of Delhi, the Delhi government had earlier stopped the testing of asymptomatic patients in the capital, including high risk contacts which in a way violated the ICMR guidelines. The ICMR guidelines have laid down that all asymptomatic cases which have come in close contact with a Covid-19 positive patient also needed to be tested.
According to the Delhi government’s own admission to the Delhi High Court earlier this week, all the 40 testing laboratories (17 pubic, 23 private) combined in Delhi had the capacity to test over 8,500 samples per day. On the contrary, Delhi has been testing just around 4,800 to 5,500 samples per day.
Sources in the ICMR also told The Sunday Guardian that the apex body has advised all the state governments to test as per the full capacity in their laboratories.
Officials in the ICMR have also said that the Central government and the ICMR over the last two months have ramped up its testing facilities and India currently has around 877 laboratories across the country that have been equipped with the capability to test more.