Question : WHO Guidelines on COVID Tests

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government is aware that World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised that the country needs 140 tests per day per million population;
(b) if so, the details of the tests being done within Tamil Nadu per day;
(c) whether it is not at par with the WHO rate, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the remedial steps being taken by the Government in this regard;
(d) whether the Government has allowed on-demand COVID-19 testing without a prescription;
(e) if so, the details thereof and objectives intended to be achieved by this decision; and
(f) whether the Government has decided to train another 2000 healthcare assistants by the end of this year, if so, the details thereof along with the number of healthcare assistants working during the COVID-19 pandemic?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)
(a) to (c) Yes. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended 0.14 samples per day per 1000 or 140 tests per day per million population. As on 19th September, 2020 India is conducting COVID -19 tests at a rate of 875 tests/million population per day. This is more than 6 times the WHO recommendations. For Tamil Nadu this stands at 1145 tests per million population per day.
(d) and (e) Indian Council of Medical Research in its advisory (issued on 4th September 2020) has allowed for ‘on-demand’ testing. This has been done with the intent to make COVID-19 testing available and easily accessible to all.
(f) To build the capacities of human resources including the medical manpower who help managing patients in hospitals; as well as non-medical personnel and field workers involved in surveillance, logistics etc., modules have been made available on iGOT - Diksha (online platform) by DOPT (https://igot.gov.in/igot/). The training modules have been translated to regional languages. Close to 29.24 lakh registrations has taken place for various courses. This includes 5,699 doctors, 86,089 Ayush Professionals, 4,102 Nurses, 963 Allied Health Professionals, 5,881 frontline workers, 2,70,835 volunteers and 25,77,522 other participants. About 18.96 lakh course completions have taken place on iGOT – Diksha platform. Training Resources for medical and non-medical personnel have also been made available on the website of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.