When and Why To Go for a Test for Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Moneylife Digital Team 18 March 2020

Life

A lot of people are under the impression that testing should be done for Covid-19 freely and some people are also under the impression that any citizen who wants to be tested should be allowed to be tested. Here is what Mahesh Murthy, private equity investor, who returned from a country that is considered to be safer, tweeted. He was not allowed to take a test for COVID-19. The reason, he neither had any symptoms, nor was the country they came from in the shortlist of unsafe countries.

(5/7) "And if I've traveled from any of these 12 countries and don't have symptoms? He was clear again "Then we can't test you".

He repeated "Only if you've come from these places AND you have symptoms can we test you"

I thought maybe they didn't want wasteful expenditure.
— Mahesh Murthy (@maheshmurthy) March 12, 2020

What is not understood is that even those who has suspected coronavirus (COVID-19) are not required to be tested. India has a population of 1.4 billion and, at present, there are just 150,000 kits available for testing COVID-19. We should not put pressure on the system and demand to be bested.

According to doctors, COVID-19 infection will be mild, only like a respiratory viral fever for 85% of the population. Only when it refuses to die down after a few days should one be tested.

Here is a basic check that you can do before deciding to go for the coronavirus testing…

Anybody who has flu or cold, should isolate himself/herself and follow these symptoms.

First for the two days, you will just feel little fatigued.

Day 3: You may have mild fever with cough and itchy throat.

Day 4: A mild headache on and off.

Day 5: You might have some gastro-intestinal symptoms like diarrhoea or cramps along with headache and your fever might be normal or it might increase.

Day 6/7: You will feel more body pain, headaches will reduce, and diarrhoea might increase or reduce, but still have an upset stomach like loss of appetite symptoms.

Now here is what is very important.

Day 8-9: Most of your symptoms will reduce... This is what you have to keep watching.

Your symptoms will reduce to lower fever, lower body pain, only your cough will persist with a running nose, which means you are somebody who have resisted this corona and already formed resistance to it and your body has improving.

In such case, doctors say, you do not have to get tested for COVID-19 because your antibodies are already formed.

However, if on Day 8 and 9, instead of starting to feel better (remember how it was with your flu and you are improving with your flu), your condition is getting worse, then it is time to call the COVID-19 helpline and get tested, the doctors added.

According to health care professionals, India has only 1,50,000 testing kits and we might get maximum of 1.5 million kits only. So the country cannot afford to test everybody who is having just flu at two-three days.

Under this situation, doctors feel that everyone should wait and follow the symptomology mentioned above and only if it is worsening, then go for COVID-19 test.

Testing should not be done as soon as you are afraid, doctors say, adding relatively healthy people should not draw upon scarce resources.

For example hospitals and labs are struggling to get N95 masks. Masks are scarce now. Health workers do not have it. Similarly, do not waste test kits for COVID-19.

It will become a disaster for India if we waste our limited resources, the doctors concluded.

Comments

User

archana_rahatade

6 years ago

Good one. Very informative, thanks .

murgie

6 years ago

Does anyone know why South Korea was able to produce so many test kits, but India and the US, so few? I've not seen any explanation, even adjusting for Trump and Modi, that explains South Korea's relative ease in manufacturing test kits.

With so few test kits it's hard to argue against rationing. Yet for mapping the spread of the disease -- useful for public health strategies -- tests need to be widespread.

bajaj3

6 years ago

Let's all co-operate, and observe before requesting for test.

Ramesh Popat

6 years ago

Good one!