[Hayek]

Extremely disappointed to see the attitudes reflected here. When educated people on Team BHP say “I will not get tested unless I have to be hospitalised”, the spread of Covid in this country is a certainty.

My wife was infected by Covid back in May. She was the third person in our building to test positive. Her symptoms were very mild, about 99.5 deg fever for two days, and then temp spiking to a little over 99 every evening for 4 more days. We suspected Covid because she developed the fever 2 days after returning from a hospital where our son had been admitted for something else. Self isolated right away. Getting a test was a challenge - the protocol back then was 5 days of Flu Like Symptoms PLUS need for hospitalisation or breathlessness.

But once we got the prescription, the process was seamless. Metropolis has a drive through testing centre in a Parking Lot in Worli. We were tested without having to leave the car. Yes, the results took 3 Days to come - and her symptoms had completely stopped a day after her test. We were quarantined for 2 weeks - neighbours arranged for supplies. But we managed the process without anyone else in the family or any of our neighbours or full time staff getting infected - as verified by anti body tests done later.

Because we have a strict protocol in our building and everyone isolates the moment they have even a mild cold and gets tested, we don’t have a single case of secondary transmission in our building (despite there having been about 25 families out of 550 having been through this so far). If at least every educated person followed this process, we would have stopped the infection by now. Instead you have examples of extreme selfishness as reflected in some of the posts on this thread - and there is no sign that this disease will stop. Please think and change your attitudes.

[Akash.D]

Mostly because of the fact that it is a place where the probability of getting in contact with a COVID19 patient is the highest.

[navpreet318]

1. Fear of getting contaminated while being tested.

2. Enforced hospitalization.

3. Horror stories about the condition of the Hospital, inhumane actions by health care workers, right from ambulance drivers to nurses and doctors.

4. Fear of genuineness of the results, like a false positive leading to all of the above plus exposure to the virus without being positive.

[prasathlr]

Originally Posted by Lobogris

What is the benefit in getting tested? Unless you are seriously ill and need hospitlisation, knowing whether you are poistive has no benefit apart from satisfying your curiosity. There is no treatment or cure available. All you can do is rest, take adequate fluids along with vitamins and most likely you will recover. If you are asymptotic then it makes even less sense to test yourself. As far as not wanting to spread it, you are supposed to take similar precautions in any case such as wearing a mask, avoiding crowded areas and so on. Your immediate family members would have already been exposed for days before you get your results.
Now coming to the negatives, first is the potential institutional quarantine in some dirty and uncomfortable location. So why would I voluntarily apply harsh restrictions on myself by getting tested when I can judiciously chose to take sensible precautions voluntarily?

Lots of assumptions in your post. Asymptomatic people can spread the disease. Experienced it first hand with a relative who became COVID positive because of an asymptomatic maid who was visiting him.

The point of testing is not curiosity but rather to stop the spread of the disease. If there is even an iota of doubt if someone got exposed to COVID, they should get themselves tested so that they don't spread it others. People not getting tested is the reason the disease is still spreading in India.

The procedure in Bangalore is if someone is tested positive then they need not institutional quarantine unless they are seriously ill. If they are not seriously ill, then they can quarantine at home given that the infected person has a personal room and attached bathroom. The food has to be delivered at the doorstep and the person can't come out of the room for 10 days.

The stigma from society is overblown. In our apartment complex 2 people tested positive, even though no one came forward when BBMP came for a test, no one has reacted negatively to the 2 people in our apartment complex. Everyone is busy in their own world. I am not denying the stigma exists but it is not severe as people assume it to be!

[SS-Traveller]

Rather loaded question as the title of the thread. OP is already assuming everyone is scared to get a Covid-19 test done. Can Moderators please add a poll to this thread along the lines of Are you scared to get a Covid-19 test done? Yes / No.

[ninjatalli]

I got tested about a few backs as I had some of the symptoms over a few days (test came negative). We are planning / thinking of going home for Diwali and we plan to get tested before we do that, irrespective of (lack of) the symptoms we have. I see it a necessary precaution like measuring your temperature with a thermometer. Honestly I don't give cahoots to what my society views irrespective of the test results.


But I have seen this reluctance. The first case detected in my society was back in May - surprisingly none of the other family members were tested, except their temperature and pulse were noted. If I had been part of that family, I would have got tested for sure.

My wife's sister (in a different city) has mentioned that she has some of the symptoms since last few days, especially that now she can't taste anymore. We have argued and cajoled to get themselves tested, but no - none of the family members (including her in-laws who live in an adjacent flat) are planning to. To top it, they are doctors by profession!

We believe it's because they worry their clinic (currently closed for a week) will lose their customers going ahead if word gets out that they were positive. Anyway that's also a possible (stupid) reason on why people don't want to get tested I guess.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by prasathlr

The point of testing is not curiosity but rather to stop the spread of the disease. If there is even an iota of doubt if someone got exposed to COVID, they should get themselves tested so that they don't spread it others. People not getting tested is the reason the disease is still spreading in India.

But how many times will you need to get tested. You go out and get yourself tested today. And lets say the result is negative. Then what? Its not like you cannot catch covid after that. So do you keep getting yourself tested everyday?

Unless there are discernible symptoms what really is the point of getting tested as negative result does not help in any way. Only if you suspect coming in contact with a covid positive or have symptoms it makes sense to get tested. But in the process of getting tested itself there is a finite possibility of catching the virus. We cant really say all the hundreds of thousands of testing centers in India are being hygienically maintained.

[DigitalOne]

Just saw a free outdoor Covid testing centre/camp at Madivala main road, Bangalore.

Just the one testing guy wearing a full PPE, and waiting for people to get tested. Zero candidates for testing.

In outdoor testing environments like this, there is very very minimal chances of catching the virus during the test. Yet people are not getting tested themselves.

I guess for the low income families or the daily-wage earners, it is the income loss of a +ve test that scares them. For me (and I dare say most of the middle class) cocooned at home, it is probably an attitude of "we will cross the bridge once we get to it" i.e when we get symptoms.

[Abhi5868]

Originally Posted by Lobogris

What is the benefit in getting tested? Unless you are seriously ill and need hospitlisation, knowing whether you are positive has no benefit apart from satisfying your curiosity. There is no treatment or cure available. All you can do is rest, take adequate fluids along with vitamins and most likely you will recover. If you are asymptotic then it makes even less sense to test yourself.

The argument that If there's no definite cure, why bother getting tested if not serious kind of defeats the whole purpose of testing. Internet is flooded with news of asymptomatic cases turning lethal within a matter of time, alarmingly most without any co-morbidities. Sorry if it sounded rude but I'll refrain from further counter arguing.
Gap Between No Symptoms And Death Can Be Just 24 Hours

[hondafanboy]

Originally Posted by Abhi5868

Gap Between No Symptoms And Death Can Be Just 24 Hours

Hey, what does this even mean? Sorry but this is such a stupid and fear mongering thing to say.

[Abhi5868]

Originally Posted by hondafanboy

Hey, what does this even mean? Sorry but this is such a stupid and fear mongering thing to say.

And so is the denial of graveness of the SARS-CoV. What sounds like fear mongering here is a bitter fact, the line itself was quoted by a senior Covid management official in Orissa.

https://ommcomnews.com/odisha-news/c...oto-bagchi/amp

It's a pity the asymptomatic cases are taken so lightly when every now and then there's a case of fatality without even a single symptom.

[sagarpadaki]

One of my neighbors got tested at these road side stall and turned out to be positive. He stays with his wife and kid in a decent 1BHK house. He had mild symptoms of cold and fever. Now the BBMP guys came and told that there is not much space in the home for home quarantine and hence he needs to get admitted to hospital. They told him, if he did not agree, he will be forcefully taken in an ambulance. Now the catch is, only one person can accompany him. His wife cannot leave the kid in home and go with him to stay in hospital. So, he went alone.

He was lodged in a govt school ,12 kms from home ,turned into a covid treatment center. There was just 3 feet gap between beds and no partition. A common toilet for 10 patients. No bathroom. He had a harrowing 4 days. A doctor would visit once in morning and night. The nurse would hand over tablets according to the schedule. No hot water to drink. The bed was smelly. The conditions over there were far worse than what would be if he had stayed in his home with wife and kid but confined to the bedroom.


Now, with such conditions, who would want to get tested to COVID? Not me for sure. How can someone be assured that they will be treated well? There are govt officials/ politicians who are misusing this pandemic to snag some easy money. People like my neighbor and his family have to suffer because of the rampant corruption.

[nandadevieast]

A close friend of mine, who directs some of the automotive ads routinely posted here, has got himself tested 7 times. Its a necessity for the kind of job he is doing. Recently he was in Ladakh shooting an ad for a currently hyped 4x4 vehicle that is yet a WIP ad, and he got tested 2 times. He was shooting my ads immediately after that in Delhi, and we had a testing arrangement right at the sets. Few people got it along the way, in Goa, Delhi and Ladakh, but each one of them got well real fast except one who had to see a hospital for few days. In October 2020, its no big deal. Some of us have done it many times.

Why will they open everything up if the outlook was so grim? There is a reason why they have:

1) Its not something that anyone control, in a country as populous as ours. Because the infection is driven by asymptomatic patients (as per Serology, 1 in every 3-4 people in cities already got it.)

2) 9 in 10 people will be perfectly fine, after everything is said and done. With time, the percentages will accumulate and when the novel coronavirus is not so novel, we will find the mortality rates as low as typical flu.

Be careful with the senior citizen at your homes. Wear mask and live a (semi?) normal life. There is no point in being paranoid, least from the testing itself.

BTW, they come home and test so no problem.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Extremely disappointed to see the attitudes reflected here. When educated people on Team BHP say “I will not get tested unless I have to be hospitalised”, the spread of Covid in this country is a certainty.

My wife was infected by Covid back in May. Self isolated right away. Yes, the results took 3 Days to come - and her symptoms had completely stopped a day after her test. We were quarantined for 2 weeks.

Good to hear that your wife has recovered, sir. As your post illustrates, you self isolated and in fact your wife had already recovered by the time you got the test results. Pray tell what harm it would have done if you had simply self isolated without the test?

Originally Posted by prasathlr

The point of testing is not curiosity but rather to stop the spread of the disease. If there is even an iota of doubt if someone got exposed to COVID, they should get themselves tested so that they don't spread it others. People not getting tested is the reason the disease is still spreading in India.

Any time you step outside and interact with anyone, there is “an iota of doubt”. So should a person get tested daily? Several times a day? Every hour? In Delhi the sero survey showed 33% had gotten infected by the first week of September . That number is probably around 40% now. So roughly 10 million people have had the infection while only around 300k were tested positive. So for every person who tested positive there were at least 50 others who were never caught. So you can safely assume that anytime you go in to grocery store, mall, train, bus, office etc, there will be dozens, probably hundreds of covid positive people around you. You can take any random group of a hundred people in a street, office or bank and you are bound to find a few positive ones. So everyone has to assume that every other person is affected and wear a mask and keep their distance as well as avoiding spending too much time in enclosed crowded places.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

My wife's sister (in a different city) has mentioned that she has some of the symptoms since last few days, especially that now she can't taste anymore. We have argued and cajoled to get themselves tested, but no - none of the family members (including her in-laws who live in an adjacent flat) are planning to. To top it, they are doctors by profession!.

Underscores my point. Even medical professionals have concluded that there is no benefit to testing even when it pertains to themselves and their family. You can’t ask for a stronger endorsement.

Originally Posted by Abhi5868

The argument that If there's no definite cure, why bother getting tested if not serious kind of defeats the whole purpose of testing. Internet is flooded with news of asymptomatic cases turning lethal within a matter of time, alarmingly most without any co-morbidities. Sorry if it sounded rude but I'll refrain from further counter arguing.
Gap Between No Symptoms And Death Can Be Just 24 Hours

Yes, there are a few people who have passed away suddenly. However from around 100 million infected in India, 100k have died. So the mortality rate is very low and out of these 100k, perhaps 1k might have died in the sudden manner described by you. One runs a higher risk driving or walking down the road. In any case, if they had no symptoms and just dropped dead then how would they have known when to get tested? Should one get tested daily then? If it were a simple and quick procedure then it would be fine but you can’t do it with the current process. This is just fear mongering. People die suddenly from heart attacks, fevers, strokes, blood clots and so on as well.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

He was lodged in a govt school ,12 kms from home ,turned into a covid treatment center. There was just 3 feet gap between beds and no partition. A common toilet for 10 patients. No bathroom. The conditions over there were far worse than what would be if he had stayed in his home with wife and kid but confined to the bedroom.

Exactly the reason I stated that I would NEVER get tested unless I needed admission into a hospital.

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by Abhi5868

Gap Between No Symptoms And Death Can Be Just 24 Hours

By this strange logic, you have to get tested every 24 hours, isn't it ?