3 out of 4 Indians say they didn't take a Covid-19 test despite symptoms

According to a survey by LocalCircles, only 12% of over 11,000 respondents said they took an RTPCR test, while another 12% said they took both the RTPCR and RAT

Three in four Indians that faced Covid-19 symptoms in the last month did not take a test to confirm their illness, a new survey released on Wednesday revealed. The findings come at a time when India recorded 4,435 Covid-19 cases, the highest in over five months.

The survey released by LocalCircles revealed that only 12 per cent of Indians with Covid-19 symptoms took the RT-PCR test. Another 12 per cent took both the RTPCR and the Rapid Antigen Test (RAT). The national survey was conducted on a sample size of over 11,000 across 303 districts of India. 66 per cent of respondents were men, while 34 per cent of respondents were women.

"Feedback in community discussions indicates that most people aren't considering taking the Covid test unless the individual experiencing them has co-morbidities or other conditions while the majority are just undertaking symptomatic treatment," the survey said.

Testing for Covid-19 is important because it is highly contagious. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends testing, tracing and isolation of Covid-19 patients. In its guidelines released in January, WHO recommended an isolation period of 5 days for even asymptomatic patients.

The cases have been on the rise across major cities in India. On Tuesday, New Delhi reported 521 new Covid cases with a positivity rate of 15.64 per cent.

"521 people have tested positive for Covid-19 infection in Delhi in the last 24 hrs. The national capital currently has 1,710 active cases of Covid-19," officials of the Delhi Health Department said.

It stated further that a total of 216 Covid patients recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 19,83,318.