For every Covid case detected in India, 30 unreported: Expert

BENGALURU: For every single Covid case reported in the country, 30 cases remained undetected or were missed, said Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, epidemiologist and India’s leading public policy, vaccines and health systems expert based out of Delhi, during an exclusive interview to The New Sunday Express.

His findings are based on an analysis of the ICMR’s fourth sero-survey report. He has also prepared a list of states as per the number of cases they missed. “According to me, for every laboratory that has confirmed Covid cases across the country, the number of undetected cases range from 6 to 98. Uttar Pradesh has the highest of 98 unreported cases, while Karnataka has 16. It is the lowest for Kerala at six,” he said. But, he explained, it should not be misconstrued as states deliberately underreporting cases. 

‘Encourage states to report more cases’

IT simply shows the states’ ability in managing the disease surveillance system, better contact tracing and better response to the pandemic. “It also shows that one has to be cautious in analysing the sero-prevalence data. We must encourage states to trace and report more number of cases so that quick action can be taken to mitigate the pandemic,” Dr Lahariya said.

We must encourage states to report more number of cases so that quick action can be taken to mitigate the pandemic. - Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, Epidemiologist