DEHRADUN: With over 51,000 migrants returning to the state, official records show that there has been a 21% dip in recent sampling in the eighth week (May 3-May 9) compared to the seventh week.
Replying to queries related to the issue, SK Gupta, director (in-charge) of medical and health department Uttarakhand said, "We are following guidelines while testing. According to the guidelines, contact persons of positive patients, who are highly exposed to positive patients and symptomatic patients, or those with severe acute respiratory diseases are being tested."
Experts in the state have already raised an alarm with the declining numbers of COVID-19 testing in the hill state.
Dr. DD Choudhury, state secretary of Indian Medical Association, Uttarakhand, commenting on the issue said, "The state government needs to increase testings. Now that migrants from other parts are returning, chances are that larger population will be infected if we are not cautious. If the government fails to conduct testing in target scale, many carriers will spread the infection to the scales we cannot even imagine."
According to the data released by the state health department has revealed that the week from April 26-May 2 saw a total of 2374 tests done.
This was the seventh week since the first case of Covid-19 was reported in the state from Dehradun on March 15.
Following the eight week, from May 3-May 9, only 1881 samples were tested with a reduction of 493 samples or 21% of testing.
The decline in testing comes at a time when people from other states have started returning to Uttarakhand amid lockdown 3.0.
Uttarakhand state health department, till date has tested 9915 samples with maximum tests being conducted in Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts.
Out of total tests conducted 9229 samples have been tested at government test centres and 686 samples tested at private labs.
Only 691 samples have been tested so far in the state from hilly districts of Uttarakhand.
These districts include Almora with 116 tests, Bageshwar with 25 tests, Chamoli with 33 tests, Champawat 61 tests, Pauri Garhwal 106 tests, Pithoragarh 28 tests.
Rudraprayag and Tehri Garhwal have tested 41 samples each and Uttarkashi district has tested 240 samples till now since March 15.
More than 1.98 lakh have registered from various parts of the country out of which 51,394 have already returned.