Govt: Rise in cases tied to increase in number of tests

NEW DELHI: Taking cognisance of the rapidly rising number of coronavirus cases in the country, the Centre on Tuesday said numbers were going up and not stabilising partly because of increased testing and as large sections of the population were still vulnerable, along with a laxity in observing norms, reports Sushmi Dey.
The government made an impassioned plea to people to follow precautionary measures as economic activities have started picking up pace and also urged them to come forward to get tested, especially in case of manifestation of symptoms.
While the fatality rate has dropped from 2.1% in the first week of August to 1.7% in September, cases per million have risen from 2,792 to 3,102 in the past five days. “Our numbers are going up and not stabilising. Part of the reason is increased testing. The other reason is large sections of the population are still susceptible. The important thing is to not be scared of testing. It is readily available in both government and private sectors,” Dr VK Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog, said.
“Not testing is dangerous. Now we have tests on demand, we do not even need prescriptions for testing,” he added.