THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 18 July 2020 (Milestone of a million: On India’s COVID-19 numbers (The Hindu))

Milestone of a million: On India’s COVID-19 numbers (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:Health 
Prelims level: COVID-19 numbers
Mains level: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health

Context: 

• India was hoping that the extended lockdown alone might help it win the battle against the novel coronavirus, but the microbe has been spreading with renewed vigour.
• So much so that on July 16, the number of confirmed infections and deaths crossed grim milestones — one million and 25,000, respectively.  

About:

• If a positivity rate is too high, that may indicate that the state is only testing the sickest patients who seek medical attention, and is not casting a wide enough net to know how much of the virus is spreading within its communities. 
• A low rate of positivity in testing data can be seen as a sign that a state has sufficient testing capacity for the size of their outbreak and is testing enough of its population to make informed decisions about reopening.
• A rapid antibody test or serology test looks for antibodies in your blood. These immunity agents develop in a body to fight an infection, in this case, COVID-19. The antibody test isn't looking for the virus but to ascertain whether your immune system, the primary line of defence in any human, has responded to the infection.
• Current antibody tests cannot tell with certainty whether one is immune to COVID-19 as further research is needed to ascertain how long these antibodies might protect one against the virus.

Wide spread:

• While the rising fresh cases reported each day could be ascribed(linked) to increased testing, the underlying reason for the case rise is undoubtedly the wide spread of the virus in the community. 
• With surveillance not being commendable, the 10.3% test positivity rate nationally in the last few days shows that a very large pool of infections remains undiagnosed. 
• Though the number of tests done daily has now crossed three lakh, the high test positivity rate underscores the need to increase the number of daily tests, by at least a few-fold. 
• Any delay in tracing, testing and isolating the infected and their contacts will only lead to an unimaginable spread of the virus. 
• As already seen in a few Indian cities, a cascadeof events beginning with a delay in disease detection can overwhelmthe health-care system.

Comparison between cities:

• Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, which initially appeared to have contained the virus spread, have seen sharp surges.
• If Bengaluru buckedthe trend in the early stage, it has now witnessing surge in cases and the system is not fully geared for the challenges. 
• Aggressive tracing and testing helped Chennai reduce the surge. But the coming days will reveal if its 12-day lockdown in June had greatly contributed to this. 
• While Delhi appears to have hammered down the test positivity rate in recent weeks, over-reliance on rapid antigen tests, which have low sensitivity, raises concerns about true case detection. 
• Maharashtra appears to have pulled off a coupin Dharavi through outstanding work, but like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the State has been witnessing a spike in other districts. 
• With a 9.1% test positivity rate, Gujarat has made no attempts to greatly increase daily tests but instead appears to be disingenuously limiting the number of daily tests to keep fresh cases per day under check. 
• Telangana too, with a test positivity rate of 18.4%, has made no great effort to increase daily tests, which have crossed 13,000 only in the last couple of days. 
• Telangana defies the trend of rising cases during the pandemic, raising serious concern about its numbers. 

Conclusion:

• Examples such as New York have shown that it is never too late to bend the curve. But for that, States need to fight the virus, not manage the data.
• Deaths remain low, but India must fight the virus, not manage the data.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the draft of 'Aids to Navigation Bill, 2020', consider the following statements:
1. The draft bill is proposed to replace the Lighthouse Act, 1927 to incorporate the best global practices, technological developments and India's International obligations in the field of Aids to Marine Navigation.
2. It does not provide for the identification and development of heritage lighthouses.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: A

Mains Questions:
Q.1) What is community transmission of the virus means? What are different tests used to detect the COVID-19 like one is Rapid-Antigen Test?