Coronavirus: Testing levels reducing in many states when positivity rates up

NEW DELHI: Testing levels in several states have gone down during periods when their positivity rate – the proportion of tests yielding a positive result — is increasing. This is the opposite of what you would expect, which is that states ramp up testing as their positivity rate increases.

In Delhi, for instance, between June 3 and June 11, the seven-day average of daily tests went down from 6,540 to 5,001 even as the positivity rate kept rising from 18.3% to 27.7%. Delhi incidentally now has the highest percentage of tests turning positive, over a quarter of them.

Covid-19: Latest updates

Delhi had another phase of constant decline in the seven-day average of tests between May 16 and May 26, when it fell from 6,660 to 4,675 tests. In both phases, the reduction in tests was at a time when the positivity rate was climbing