The KGMOA, an organization of government doctors, has accused the government of conducting unscientific tests in the wake of the second wave of Kovid. They sent a letter to the Chief Minister pointing out this. The organization points out that the results of group tests may be delayed and may adversely affect immune function. Therefore, they suggest that the test should be validated only for those who have symptoms and those who come in contact with them.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan responded that the criticism of the organization could not be taken at face value. The CM added that such organizations should take social commitment into consideration in such a crisis and take necessary preventive measures to detect the disease as soon as the spread of the disease is high.
Whose part is right in this. To analyze this, one has to look back at the early stages of the Kovid epidemic. In the early days of the global epidemic, the motto of the World Health Organization was Test, Test, Test. This was even before vaccines began to be developed in laboratories. The WHO's first proposal was to increase tests, identify patients, and exclude them from community outreach. Tests were generally low at the time. Opposition parties have also accused the government of restricting the number of tests in Kerala to reduce the number of patients at some point. The government was widely blamed for this. In those days, it was common for specialist doctors to increase the number of tests. At present, the government aims to conduct at least one lakh tests a day. The government, which was initially unprepared for it, has now realized the fact that a mass audit is necessary. This is exactly what was wanted from the beginning. The expert advice now available to the government is to conduct a group examination and find as many patients as possible. It is not enough to examine only those who have symptoms. This is because the asymptomatic patient will walk down and spread the disease. When that happens, Break the Chain will never be possible. Therefore, the people must confirm the opinion of the Chief Minister that a mass inspection is necessary. And the services of health workers should not be underestimated. During the group examination, the number of patients naturally increased. Facilities for treating them also need to be increased. Less than that will backfire. Many may not receive treatment. The hospital veranda is also full of patients. There will be a shortage of medicine, ventilator and oxygen. The number of doctors and nurses in many ICUs of government medical colleges is very low. They are the ones who get cut off when the group checks up. So maybe they are against it. The government should also take steps to fill the shortage of doctors and nurses by hiring temporary people on a wartime basis. At this stage, it is not necessary to defeat each other with arguments, but to try to defeat the epidemic together.