Spike in Covid-19 testing as flight services resume

Coimbatore: Six days after flight operations resumed in the district, the number of people being tested for the novel coronavirus has gone up to anywhere between 400 and 600 a day from 200 to 250 earlier. More than half of them are flyers to the district.

Neighbouring Tirupur, meanwhile, tests around 150 to 300 people a day and Salem, around 300 to 400 people.

While the number of samples being tested in these districts is just a fraction that of Chennai and northern districts, epidemiologists say this could be because some private hospitals and clinicians are not testing all the patients with flu-like symptoms.

Health department officials in the district used to test more than 500 people a day in April. They dropped the numbers to 200 to 250 people a day by April-end. The district hasn’t reported any new Covid-19 case since May 3. Tirupur too, which was testing 350 to 400 people a day, brought down the number of people being tested for the virus to 150 to 300 a day in May. It has also not reported any fresh case since May 2. This has led many people to wonder if the two districts have really been testing people at all.

Dr P Kulandaisamy, former director of public health, says the ideal number of tests to be conducted a day differs from district to district. “It should be calculated based on the population. Coimbatore, with a population of around 41 lakh people, should be seeing around 75 to 100 deliveries a day (based on birth rate), around 40 cases of respiratory issues and around 100 cases of cough, cold and fever. If these people are tested without fail, it would come up to 220 to 240 samples a day.”

If we have to add incoming air passengers and those entering the district via road, and the elective surgery patients at hospitals, he said, the minimum number of samples to be tested in the district would come around 400 a day. “If that’s being matched, it’s the right number. However, Salem, which is a much larger district and sees more movement with interstate borders, should test a minimum of 500 samples a day. Its total of 350 to 400 samples a day is low.”

According to the former public health director, Tirupur should be testing at least 250 samples a day, compared to its lower limit of 150. “They should ensure all government and private clinics and health centres are not leaving out pregnant women, flu and SARI cases.”

Dr Sudha Ramalingam, community medicine professor at PSG Hospitals, says while the number of people being tested in the region could be higher, the current figures were not worryingly low.

T Mariappan, former scientist with the Indian Council of Medical Research, says the lower numbers could probably mean that some patients are opting for private sector treatment. ‘They may request the facility not to subject them to Covid-19 test or even if they do, not to reveal the results. Also, if most people in the district are asymptomatic, because of better immunity, what is the point in testing them?”