Munish Moudgil IAS visiting testing camps in vijayanagar assembly. Daily many testing locations are visited by him and other senior officers.
Media should help spread the message of voluntary testing among public
BENGALURU:
With all that we have learnt during the seven to eight months of having to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, one thing is crystal clear. That is, testing saves lives as it helps identify Covid-positive cases early enough to enable life-saving medical treatment.
The statistics are irrefutable: most deaths have happened due to delays in testing and/or taking treatment. It stands to reason, therefore, that the greater the number of tests, the less will be the fatality rate. This is crucially important, not just for individuals and families, but also for the economic recovery and growth of the state and the country.
My request, therefore, to the print and electronic media is to be responsible stakeholders in this fight against Covid-19 and help spread the message of voluntary testing, so that people pro-actively come forward for self-testing and getting their kin tested. Not only will it save their own lives and the lives of their family members, it will also be in society’s best interests.
Who should test?
Testing is of particular importance if you belong to any of the following categories:
(1) Even the mildest symptoms of cough, cold, fever or breathlessness
(2) Any direct or even indirect contact with a Covid-positive person
(3) Existing co-morbidities
(4) Regularly coming in contact with many people
Timely testing can make all the difference between life and death. In fact, if the coronavirus infection is detected early, it is easy to handle in almost all cases. What makes it deadly is not its inherent infectiousness but the delay in detection and treatment.
Free tests
What needs to be highlighted is that the state government and BBMP are offering free testing facilities to the public in our endeavour to bring down the fatality rate. On the flip side, any action by anyone that leads to less cooperation from citizens can hurt the common fight against the virus and cause more loss of lives.
(IAS officer Munish Moudgil is Karnataka’s Covid war room in-charge)
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