Are Indian States testing enough for COVID-19? While comparing the tests conducted per million population answers this question, it does not consider the size of the outbreak in these States. A method popularised by ourworldindata.org bridges this gap. By measuring the number of tests per confirmed case, it is possible to gauge which States are testing enough relative to the size of their outbreaks.
How to read the charts?
The five charts plot tests per million population (TPM) against cases per million people (CPM) in each State between April 16-May 16. Each coloured line traces the no. of tests per confirmed case in a State across this period.
The grey lines show the points on the chart where the number of tests are a fixed number of times larger than the number of cases - 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 times larger*. For instance, the first grey line (10x) shows points on chart where the tests were 10 times more than the cases.
Relatively very high
Tests per million people (TPM) in these States are 200 times larger than their cases per million people (CPM) in recent days.
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Testing v infection rate - Data Point Chart 1
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Interactive map of confirmed coronavirus cases in India
Relatively high
TPM in these States are 100 times larger than their CPM lately.
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Testing v infection rate - Data Point Chart 2
Jharkhand has improved its testing rates massively lately along with significant improvements in Karnataka and Uttarakhand.
Relatively good
TPM in these States are 50 times larger than their CPM in recent days lately.
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Testing v infection rate - Data Point Chart 3
Andra Pradesh is about to surpass the 100x line.
Relatively poor
TPM in these States are 20 times larger than their CPM lately.
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Testing v infection rate - Data Point Chart 4
Bihar started off well, but has slackened lately. Tamil Nadu was better in the middle, but has slackened again.
Relatively very poor
TPM in these States are 10 times larger than their CPM lately.
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Testing v infection rate - Data Point Chart 5
Gujarat and Maharashtra are falling from poor to worse. M.P. is breaking into 20x.
Last word
While testing the entire population is the ideal solution to measure the infection rate in a region, depending on population and the availability of testing kits, this may not be a feasible response. So measuring a region’s testing rate in comparison to its outbreak size will help identify those which are not testing enough. In this regard, Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are falling behind.
