India can bring down COVID-19 positivity rate to less than 5% in 3 weeks: AIIMS doctor

On April 25, Head of the department of medicine at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Dr. Naveet Wig said that India can bring down the positivity rate to less than five per cent in the next three weeks. While addressing a joint conversation on issues related to the COVID-19 situation with the Director of AIIMS (Delhi) Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director General of Health Services (DGHS), Dr. Sunil Kumar, and Chairman of Medanta, Dr. Naresh Trehan, Dr Wig said, 

"We can bring down the positivity rate to less than five per cent in India, in the next three weeks if we all take responsibility and abide by COVID appropriate behaviour."

He further added that severe restrictions have to be implemented to pull down the positivity rate of COVID-19 cases. 

What is COVID-19 positivity rate?

COVID-19 positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus out of overall people who have been tested for COVID-19. The positive per cent will be high if the number of positive tests is seemingly high or if the number of total tests is too low. This positivity rate is a critical measure as it gives us an indication how widespread infection is in the affected area where the testing is occurring. This is vital to evaluate whether levels of testing is keeping up with levels of disease transmission. 

A higher positivity rate indicates that it is not the ideal time to relax restrictions to curb COVID-19 spread. 

During the discussion with fellow members from AIIMS, Dr. Wig said,

"All district officials must monitor district's positivity rate and aim to keep it below 1-5 per cent. Mumbai had 26% positivity rate at one point but after severe restrictions, it came down to 14%. Now, Delhi is struggling at 30%. We must impose strict restrictions."

The doctor further mentioned 'breaking the chain' and said, 

"If we have to defeat the disease, we will have to save healthcare workers. Many of them are testing positive. If we save healthcare workers, they will be able to save patients. If we save both, only then will we save the economy." He further added, "we will have to bring down the number of patients. Our only goal should be to break the chain."

COVID-19 tally amid ever-rising second-wave in India

So far, India has reported 1,69,60,172 COVID-19 infections and currently has 26,82,751 active cases. About 2,767 people were reported dead as on Sunday, according to health ministry data, taking total COVID-19 fatalities to 1,92,311. Total number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 1,40,85,110, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.13 per cent, the data said.