Govt should allow private sector to screen Corona cases: Dr Naresh Trehan

In this article, Dr Naresh Trehan who also runs super-speciality hospital Medanta-The Medicity discusses with Krishnanand Tripathi, Deputy News Editor ETV Bharat about the model followed by the government during the outbreak of Swine Flu. Trehan, who has been actively involved with public health issues blamed China for hiding the truth from the rest of the world that helped in the spread of the virus in other parts of the world.

New Delhi:The government must involve the private sector and allow them to screen the suspected cases of infection by novel coronavirus, said Dr Naresh Trehan, Chairman of health council of industry body Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).

We don’t know yet whether coronavirus has spread to the community level or not, the government has just ordered random testing at community level, it will still not be at the mass level and we may take two-three weeks to know whether the virus has spread to community level or not, said Dr Naresh Trehan.

Trehan who also runs super-speciality hospital Medanta-The Medicity advises the adoption of the model followed by the government during the outbreak of Swine Flu.

During the Swine Flu outbreak in 2015, following the reports of overcharging by private sector labs, state governments had imposed a cap on the fee charged by private sector labs. Delhi government had fixed the fee at Rs 4,500 for testing the cases of Swine Flu by private pathology labs.

“Instead of deploying just its own resources, the government may say to private sector that these are the criteria and these are the charges, you can charge ‘X’ amount but you can’t charge anymore. And if we (the government) find you violating it, then it will be treated as anti-national act,” said Dr Naresh Trehan.

According to reports, the government was considering to permit accredited labs in the private sector to screen suspected Corona cases and modalities for the same are being worked out.

Trehan also justified the decision by state governments to close schools, shopping malls, hotels, clubs and gymnasiums to prevent the spread of virus.

“We don’t know how long it is going to take, whether it is temporary or it will take time, said Dr Trehan while explaining the economic impact of coronavirus.

“It was a bold move on the part of government to shut down hotels, airlines. There will be severe economic stress on these sectors and they may go bankrupt, and then their loans may turn into NPAs and it will have an impact on the banking sector, there will be a ripple effect,” he said.

“There will be some economic burden on people. But, in the larger scheme of things, if we let the virus loose, and hundreds of thousands of people get affected then the country will come to a standstill anyway. It will be much worse,” Dr Trehan told ETV Bharat here.

Community screening is good

Dr Naresh said the random testing of coronavirus at community level is essential to prevent its spread in different parts of the country.

“You find someone in the street with cold and influenza and you test them. If they are infected then they will be quarantined,” he said.

“It’s a good thing, samples will be collected and we will come to know the extent of the spread of the virus because the virus spreads very fast. Danger is lurking in the air, any time we can have a real explosion. It can overwhelm a country. We don't want to reach that stage. We should stop it now.”

Govt should follow China-Korea model

Trehan, who has been actively involved with public health issues blamed China for hiding the truth from the rest of the world that helped in the spread of the virus in other parts of the world. He, however, advised the follow the model adopted by both China and Korea in containing the virus by setting up specialized hospitals that only deal with coronavirus patients.

“China who kept it hidden for a month and made it a disaster for the world but ultimately they were able to control it for themselves. They made big hospitals concentrated only on Covid and nothing else,” he said.

“There is no point keeping 10-15 patients at different places because it will keep spreading. If we could make one block where 500 people can be kept then it will be much easier to manage.”

Summer may not bring any respite

Trehan said influenza viruses are known to be vulnerable to dry-hot season but this thing has not yet been proven in case of coronavirus.