India Will Need 20,000 Testing Centres to Replicate South Korea Model of Aggressive Covid-19 Testing

The global war against Covid-19 continues. Amid this, countries are trying to incorporate models from other nations that have helped in flattening the curve of coronavirus infections. One such much-talked about example is the aggressive testing carried out in South Korea.

South Korea managed to test more than 15,000 people in one day at an early stage, bringing the total numbers tested so far to almost 4 lakh. This meant they could identify and isolate those with the contagion, thereby reaching a point where their recoveries are more than the number of infections reported. Recoveries directly depend on the healthcare available and if the system is not stretched with overwhelming number of infections, better medical care can be made available for existing patients.

Senior diplomat and Minister Counsellor, Politics in the Korean Embassy in New Delhi, Yoo Chang-ho, told News18 that South Korea has 650 testing centres nationwide. “That is quite a lot for a country of Korea’s size. This would be like India having about 20,000 testing centres nationwide," he said.

He stressed that tackling the pandemic at a very early stage through testing centres was a key in the improvement overall.

But he highlighted that it was “very, very difficult on the ground" and attributed the spirited fight against Covid-19 to the Korean people. He also said that governments have to be transparent in sharing information with the public in any such situation for total support of citizens.

India so far has 115 government labs and 47 private labs testing for Covid-19. India has so far tested 42,788 samples. News18 has learnt that India will start serological tests/rapid tests by April 6. The test will show results in 30 minutes as opposed to the six hours currently.

In a video call with Indian envoys abroad on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked them to look at sources of procuring medical equipment for India apart from keeping a watch for any scientific or medical breakthroughs in their host country.