More on Covid-19

NEW DELHI: Amid claims by some experts that India was “under-testing” for Covid-19, health minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said infections had not reached “community level” and defended the testing criteria as being a well-defined protocol based on scientific advice on who needs to be screened for the disease.Responding to concerns expressed by MPs in Lok Sabha , Vardhan said, “I can say with perfect and utmost confidence and authenticity that whatever tests we are doing — and on whom — are with perfect scientific advice. No one in this House should have any doubts about that.”Vardhan was responding to the issue that has been raised outside the House as well. The government has said that randomised testing of patients with severe respiratory problems was sufficient to check for community spread and arguments based on “tests per million” were misplaced. The protocol was also being revised to expand tests even as it was necessary to avoid wasteful testing that may take attention away from those who actually need it.On a question raised by Congress member Manish Tewari about the origin of coronavirus in the backdrop of many contradictory reports, the minister said, “It is being investigated. Every time a new virus comes, it gets mutated and a new virus comes.” Tiwari asked whether Covid-19 was a naturally occurring virus or the “result of a certain scientific experiment or a series of scientific experiments which may have gone astray”.Vardhan said, “As per our information, I do not think there is any need for any apprehension. A lot of things are making the rounds on WhatsApp and all. At the moment, as per our conversations with the WHO, there is neither any authenticity nor any substance in those reports.”He told the House that China reported the first case on December 30, 2019, when it said it had noticed some cases of pneumonia which had an unknown etiology and they were not able to pinpoint the actual cause.“On January 7, 2020, they reported to the World Health Organisation that they have been able to establish that this is probably a new or novel coronavirus. They have been informing and accordingly, I would like to inform the House, we have been the first country in the world... on January 8 we had a technical expert group meeting in our ministry,” Vardhan said.