On Thursday morning, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Delhi's Greater Kailash locality Saurabh Bharadwaj created a flutter with a social media post.
“Save this tweet—there has been no decrease in the number of coronavirus cases, there has been a decrease in the number of tests. In the last two months, nearly one crore people have come from abroad, these people want to be tested ( for the coronavirus ) with ease. However, they have no alternatives," he wrote in Hindi.
In the video attached to the tweet, Bharadwaj said that he is questioning why tests for COVID-19 are being done only in government laboratories. Government labs have their own limitations and it is not possible for everyone to stand in a queue, wait for five hours along with another 150 to 200 people, who , in turn may be infected. A person may not be comfortable doing so, and additionally, they may also be afraid of contracting the virus, he said. Bharadwaj stated that he finds it strange that testing is allowed only in government hospitals, while one has to wait for four to five days for reports.
Pointing out that the novel coronavirus has affected mostly people who are coming from abroad, Bharadwaj questioned the checking process at the airports where the only screening is for whether a person has fever, and, if not, they are allowed to leave. However, only after fifteen days of being infected, does a person start displaying symptoms. Which means, a person who has been screened and cleared at the airports could still be infected and could , in turn, infect other people.
There are many well-intentioned people from the middle and upper classes who have both the wish and right to know whether they have been infected by the coronavirus. However, they don't have any option, either before or even now, because tests are not happening in private labs or hospitals . The only option these people have is to go home, to their families and offices, and unknowingly, they could spread the disease. Bharadwaj argued that this gap needs to be filled and private hospitals and labs need to be allowed to screen at a large scale.
This tweet is just the latest of many on the subject by the legislator. On Wednesday, Bharadwaj tweeted, "Central government has invented the best way to limit corona positives. By limiting the corona test labs." He attached an image of an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
Just two hospitals in Delhi, RML and Safdarjung, have been certified to collect samples for testing and this has been a pressing concern also with the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi. In fact, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain had written to his counterpart at the Centre, Harsh Vardhan, for strengthening laboratory facilities in Delhi’s government hospitals six days ago. The health minister told CNN-News18, " Yesterday, ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) inspected ILBS (Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences) and LNJP (Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan) hospitals. While LNJP has not been given the go ahead, ILBS has made it. ICMR will visit two more hospitals today and only then we will know. Six hospitals have been given the go ahead for sample collection but not for testing." The formalities of ICMR certification for testing in Delhi’s ILBS hospital may take another day or two.
Speaking to CNN-News18 , Bharadwaj said that his push for widespread testing , as well as allowing private labs to do the testing has been sparked by the feedback he received from his own constituency. "I got a call from someone in CR Park, D block. They have a couple in their building who have returned from Germany and are sick. They were afraid of being infected. By the time the health department officials visited them, the couple had left and no one knows where they have gone. People are panicking," the MLA said. "If you have the corona, you can give it to someone close to you, you endanger the safety of your family and therefore there is no reason to doubt the intention of the people who are evading tests."
Bharadwaj narrated the story of another distress call that he received of a person living in Alaknanda. Residents of the society want to collaborate with the government and get each and every person tested; however, they do not even have the option under the current dispensation, he said.
"The only thing that the government is doing is if anyone has travelled abroad, they will call him every day. Why will anyone disclose that they are not well? To be sent to RML?" Bharadwaj asked.
The AAP leader advocated that samples of each and every person who is returning from abroad be collected at the airports in addition to the thermal screening, so that if anyone tests positive, at least, that person can be traced easily though passports and local authorities can be informed about the necessary protocols of quarantine and treatment. Else, the Centre should allow private labs quickly to conduct tests so that those who want it to be done have that option.
AAP’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh has also raised concerns about inadequate testing, in the House.
On March 17, Balram Bhargava, director-general of ICMR, said that two rapid-testing laboratories and forty-nine additional centres in the government system would be operationalised by the end of this week apart from the 72 functional ICMR labs. Bhargava also said that talks were going on with private laboratories certified by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories for COVID-19 testing.
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