Coronavirus outbreak: In a series of shifting epicentres, India needs to improve testing facility to limit the threat

The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged the nations to ramp up testing to contain the spread of coronavirus as more governments impose lockdown, stop travel.

But each test for Covid-19 virus comes at a cost and it's not cheap. There is the infrastructure needed for testing so many people.

India so far has tested the lowest number of people per million.

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But it can take a cue from South Korea the world leader in covid-19 testing.

But the high cost of testing is making it extremely difficult. Especially for middle and low-income countries.The WHO has urged world nations to increase the number of people being tested.

But not all nations have been able to scale up testing. India's efforts to carry out covid-19 tests have lagged far behind. The cost of a test on average is Rs 5000-6000.

Apart from its sheer size, India's is also facing a challenge in the density of its population. 420 people live on each square kilometre. That's nearly three times more than that of China.

With just 6 tests per 1 million people, India has one of the lowest testing rates in the world. Italy which is the worst-hit nation outside of China is testing over 1400 per million people. China is testing over 2800 people.

Countries like South Korea and Bahrain are currently doing the maximum number of tests. Clocking about 5000- 6000 per million people.

India has tested over 11000 people while it has 3 lakh diagnostic kits.

India's testing capabilities are underutilised. Only 3% of equipment is being used. Lack of voluntary testing and exclusion of private hospitals are also blamed for the low number of tests.

The central government of India has decided to allow accredited private labs to test for Covid-19.

But there are only about 50 to 60 private labs approved by the national accreditation board for laboratories.

How do we test enough number of people in a population of 1.3 billion? What should India do?

It can take a cue from South Korea which has one of the world's best testing models.

The country's government scaled up its testing services as soon as the outbreak started.

At least, 12,000 people are being tested daily. Not just that The government is even tracking potential carriers using satellite technology.

'Drive-thru' testing facilities have been set up across the country.

Testing takes 10 minutes and people receive test results within a few hours.

South Korea's daily testing rate is higher than India's total number of tests so far. The next 10 days are the most crucial. India faces the threat of being the next Covid-19 hotspot.

And the only way it can limit the damage is if it can find ways to test more and more people as soon as possible.