Prashant Kishor wants India's community based random Covid test results to be made public

Former JDU leader Prashant Kishor on Tuesday issued a veiled attack on the Centre asking it for the results of all the tests that they had 'claimed' to have done. In a tweet, Prashant Kishor quoted Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan who in a TV interview had revealed that India had been regularly carrying out community-based random testing for COVID-19, roughly testing 250 persons per district. "Good news but where are the results?" asked Prashant Kishor. 

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In a TV interview health minister @drharshvardhan claimed that India is REGULARLY doing “Community Based Random Testing” for #COVID19 in ALL districts with atleast 250 persons tested per district!

Good news but where are the results? It is certainly not in the public domain! 🧐

— Prashant Kishor (@PrashantKishor)

Soon after the MHA had released a new set of rules for the Red, Orange and Green zones, Prashant Kishor had hit out at the Centre claiming that this colour-coded division had 'no scientific basis'. "People debating zone classifications should NOTE that these classifications hardly have any scientific basis. The colour is largely a function of testing or lack of it. For all we know, the colour of many #GreenZone or #OrangeZone could change with the change in testing numbers!" he tweeted. 

Read: Prashant Kishor Claims Health Ministry's Red-Orange-Green Zones Have 'no Scientific Basis'

India Orders 6.3 Million Kits

Meanwhile, in a bid to ramp up the current testing capacity for COVID-19 in India, orders have been placed for nearly 6.3 million (63 lakh) RT-PCR testing kits. A senior Health Ministry official told news agency ANI that the country’s target is to test 5.3 million (53 lakh) people in the coming months. Therefore, slightly excess kits have been ordered as backups in case the test kits malfunction.

RT-PCR kits have been ordered from companies in South Korea, Germany, the USA, and China. The health officials expect the first batch of kits to arrive in India after May 10 while the rest will be supplied in a phased manner. An earlier set of orders comprising 15 lakh kits from Chinese makers had been cancelled on account of inaccuracies in their results.

Read: India Orders 6.3 Million RT-PCR Kits To Increase COVID-19 Testing Capacity