412: Not Enough Tests or Transparency: How India is Handling Coronavirus

As India gears up to deal with COVID-19, the country witnessed the highest rise in numbers in 24 hours, with the ministry of health and family welfare reporting 376 cases in a day. On 1 April, the country had over 1600 cases. That number may not appear to be too high for such a densely populated country and the Health Ministry has consistently maintained that we are at the local stage of transmission or stage 2 of the disease. However, ICMR or Indian Council of Medical Research has also said that India is currently testing upto only 38 percent of it's capacity. Currently, the testing norms remain highly restrictive. The question that is being asked repeatedly by public health experts is why aren't we ramping up our testing? How do we know these are the only positive cases when we simply don't test enough? Why is the government data on the testing samples or the sample kits all lacking transparency? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Editor: Vaishali Sood References: Covid-19 crisis: At 32 per million, India lagging far behind on testing (https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/at-32-per-million-india-lagging-far-behind-on-testing/story-yIkD8YfDJ4NRopY2hx2aFI.html) Wanted: A One-Stop Source for All COVID-19 Case Data in India (https://thewire.in/government/wanted-a-one-stop-source-for-all-covid-19-case-data-in-india) Doctors Say It’s Only a Matter of Time Before Virus Sweeps India (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-29/pessimistic-indian-doctors-brace-for-tsunami-of-virus-cases) Testing is key to fighting coronavirus – so why does India have such a low testing rate? (https://scroll.in/pulse/957380/testing-is-key-to-fighting-coronavirus-so-why-does-india-have-such-a-low-testing-rate) Twitter thread on testing kits (https://twitter.com/sharmasupriya/status/1244916259008868353) Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fapple.co%2F2AYdLIl&redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt