Maharashtra govt seeks permission to carry out ‘pool testing’

MUMBAI: Maharashtra is one of the most hard-hit states due to the spread of Covid-19 in India. Although the spread of the disease has been controlled in cities like Nagpur and Pune, the city of Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) continue to show an increase in the spread of the disease. To make Maharashtra a ‘zero-Covid-19’ zone, the Government of Maharashtra is planning on carrying out ‘pool testing’ in the state.

Pool testing involves putting multiple swap samples together and testing them in a single real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. A batch testing positive would indicate that everyone whose samples were in the batch needs to be tested individually. However, if a batch tests negative then everyone whose samples were in the batch is safe.

This process helps in saving time and resources, particularly the Covid-19 testing kits, which are already low in number in the country. The state government has sought permission from the Government of India and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for the same. The Government of Uttar Pradesh is also planning on using the same method of testing in the state. The state government claims that pool testing is a viable method in the present scenario as 61 per cent of the total cases in Maharashtra are in Mumbai, 10 per cent in MMR, 20 per cent in Pune and the remaining nine per cent in the rest of the state. This indicates that the spread of Covid-19 in Mumbai and MMR, although increasing, is concentrated. Thus, pool testing in these areas would be suitable, economical and time-saving.