As Covid-19 cases drop in Bengaluru, so do testing numbers

Bengaluru’s new Covid cases came down to 15,879 on Tuesday, the third successive day of decline, but questions persist around a trend of lower testing.

Over the last four weeks, Bengaluru Urban’s testing numbers have declined dramatically, raising fears that this fall is failing to catch thousands of infected people.

The decline in testing began on April 20. As per official data, the testing rates fell from an average of 85,829 per day in BBMP limits four weeks ago (from April 13 to 20) to an average of 53,114 tests per day in the last seven days.

At the same time, daily Covid-19 case numbers also began to reduce from a peak of 26,756 cases on April 30 to 15,879 cases on May 11.

Officials told DH that the reduction in testing is due to updated ICMR guidelines which recommend targeted testing of individuals exhibiting syndromes of the disease.

“New testing guidelines were issued in which we prioritised targeted testing of syndromic people. We were previously testing people for travel. That has stopped,” explained said Akhtar, Additional Chief Secretary (Health).

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He added that random testing has also stopped, which is why daily testing numbers had declined. Another factor was a growing backlog of samples piling up in testing centres, Akhtar said, adding, however, that the backlog had been eliminated by Tuesday.

DH has learnt that a series of discussions to reduce testing started from April 14 onwards and involved the highest levels of the state government. The top-level meetings considered the strain on the testing labs. However, a proposal to increase RAT testing in place of RT-PCR testing was rejected on account of ICMR calling for a reduction of RAT testing.

“RAT kits are not perfect. They have an accuracy of 67 per cent to 70 per cent. Using them would at least identify up to 70 per cent of Covid-19 cases which would otherwise be missed,” an officer acknowledged.

Several officers expressed their frustration to DH about the declining numbers of RT-PCR testing, which they fear will result in more deaths. “However, if a Covid-19 suferrer is not identified officially through testing and subsequently dies, that person is classified as a non-Covid death,” said one.

As of Tuesday, the state’s test positivity rate was 39.05 per cent. This means that for every 100 tests conducted, 39 people are testing positive. “By reducing the number of tests, fewer Covid-19 positive individuals will be identified,” an officer said.