Mandatory Covid-19 test for all incoming passengers from mainland to Andaman

Port Blair, 24th Aug, 2020: “Aasman se gire- Khajur me atke”, a very famous proverb in Hindi is perfectly suited for islanders in the present scenario of COVID pandemic. The demand for screening of every incoming passenger through RTPCR was not heard but as measure of damage control, Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) is made mandatory, which is not 100% reliable.
Since the day-1, it was demanded to make mandatory screening of every incoming passenger from mainland through RTPCR, so that not even a single infected person (symptomatic or asymptomatic) is allowed to move freely in the community. Acting on this, Administration ordered mandatory RTPCR screening of incoming passengers belonging to North and Middle Andaman District and Nicobar District. Passengers of South Andaman District were allowed to go home without any test and without any mechanism to check that such passengers are adhering to prescribed quarantine period or not. Result is with us. Island, especially Port Blair and nearby areas are in the stage of community transmission. Even the primitive tribes in isles are infected with the virus.
Why incoming passengers of South Andaman District were not subjected to RTPCR test, Administration better knows. Hence the UT Administration owns the responsibility of community transmission in the district.
With the shuffle in portfolios of Administrative Officers, new measures are being taken to curb the spread of virus in isles. From 22nd Aug, 2020, Administration started administering mandatory screening of all incoming passengers at ports through Rapid Antigen Tests on payment of Rs. 500/-. But relying on Rapid Antigen Tests for screening at Ports will cost heavily for islanders because Rapid Antigen Test is not 100% full proof.
Worse, the use of rapid tests could be letting some infected people return freely to the community, spreading the pathogen to even more people. A high number of false negatives on tests conducted on returning people meant that infections were seeded in new places when they were allowed to go home, sparking a fierce resurgence of cases.
Most other countries with big outbreaks like the U.K. and the U.S. use the RT-PCR tests that detect the genetic material of the virus. While experts say that rapid antigen tests can help countries with out-of-control outbreaks quickly detect where hot spots are.
UT Administration’s practice of conflating the data from rapid tests and traditional RT-PCR ones risks obscuring its true infection picture. Other tests, like those for serological studies or testing high risk groups for antibodies, are counted separately.
“I don’t think it’s good science to put together the two tests. If the rapid antigen tests are only 50% sensitive compared to PCR tests and there is a very high prevalence of community transmission then they are not very good test,” said Peter Collignon, a professor of clinical medicine at the Australian National University Medical School.
The Administration must re-consider its decision of mandatory test of incoming passengers at ports through Rapid Antigen Test. Instead, all incoming passenger must be screened through RTPCR on payment basis. Till the receipt of RTPCR report, passengers be kept in institutional quarantine on payment basis. After receipt of test report, passenger shall be allowed to move as deemed fit. In case, ICMR is not capable of handling the number of tests due to this arrangement, number of flights must be reduced. Relying on RAT for screening of passengers coming from mainland will cost heavily on islanders.
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Courtesy: Andaman Express