A quarter of earnings was spent on the investigation of Corona

Posted on 17th Jul 2020 by rohit kumar

The new Coronavirus that is wreaking havoc all over the world is still beyond our comprehension and is spreading Covid-19 at a faster rate than we thought. It has neither spared the middle class, left the poor, nor shown any softness with Jerry Bolsonaro or Boris Johnson. The biggest flame has been investigated, which is directly piercing the pocket.

 

If this virus is reaching the neighborhood, home, office, school, and college, then people are also investigating it to be safe. Praveen Kamble thought the same. Kamble is studying at Megacity Pune, 100 miles from Mumbai, the country's financial capital. He had a mild fever on 15 June. Although his health began to improve a few days later, he intended to undergo a coronavirus test to reassure and protect his parents. Government hospitals refused to be screened after seeing mild symptoms and Kamble had to go to a private laboratory. Nothing came out during investigation but Rs 2,800 came out of his pocket.

 

Kamble said, 'If the investigation had been done for Rs 1,000, I would have got everyone tested at home. Thank God the parents did not get the infection. I did not take the risk of their investigation because the investigation is very expensive. The cost of testing the Covid-19 is coming from Rs 2,800 to Rs 3,000, which is about $ 40, which is difficult for the middle class to spend, then how expensive will the investigation be for the poor?

 

According to an analysis by Business Standard, RT-PCR testing of coronaviruses would cost 23% of the monthly earnings of an average Indian. In China, only 2 percent of the average monthly income is spent on the investigation. The most expensive investigation in 14 major countries is in India itself. The situation may be worse in small towns as there is less income.

 

Some places in Madhya Pradesh are being investigated for around Rs 4,000. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had initially fixed the maximum expenditure of the investigation at Rs 4,500, but later this limit was lifted. We have considered the dollar as the basis for calculation. The price of 1 dollar is about 75 rupees. Accordingly, the per capita income has been converted into dollars, which shows how much of the per capita income is being spent in the investigation.

 

For example, a test in Brazil will cost around 8% of a person's monthly income. In developed countries, barely 2 percent of the income will be spent. Interestingly, China is spending the same amount of income as developed countries. This analysis includes the cost of the investigation being conducted in private laboratories on its own. Government hospitals across the country are getting a free screening of serious patients who need to be admitted to the hospital. In many countries, the cost of testing is waived if there is valid health insurance.

 

If we trust the data of the Chinese government's website, then the cheapest check is the same in terms of the purchasing power of the average person. There, Corona gets a check for $ 29. After this, there is a check-in Russia for $ 39. The cost of investigation in India is four times that of China according to the data of the Chinese government. In comparison, the cost of testing in India is four times that of China. By comparing any currency with the dollar, it is known how much money will be required to be spent in the US to buy goods found in 1 dollar in another country. In India, this rate is 21, that is, in America, the goods found in a superstore for 10 dollars will be available in India for maybe Rs 210. This is called the exchange rate of purchasing power. In this way, this comparison tells us what the comparative value of the investigation is in these countries. On the scale of purchasing power parity, in most developed countries, the Covid-19 test goes for less than $ 100, but in India, it costs $ 142. Among the developed countries, this test is the most expensive in Poland, Mexico, and the UK and costs twice as much as India and about 10 times that of China.

 

In countries like Germany, the cost of the investigation is very low because almost everyone has health insurance. In India, barely one-third of the population has personal or government-run insurance.

 

Weak economies are struggling more than other countries for investigation. Personal income in Pakistan and Bangladesh is lower than in India but investigation there is more expensive than India. Rapid antigen tests are not accurate but are done quickly. This is helping to make the investigation cheaper. Economists believe that the investigation should be affordable so that everyone can benefit from it. They explain this in a situation where people standing nearby benefit from an event or a person's work helps the entire society. Avinash Tripathi, who teaches economics at Taxila Institute, gives an example. He told Business Standard, 'Suppose someone washes their hands, uses a mask, or decides to get a Covid-19 checked. In this, he is not only protecting himself but also protecting other people from the possibility of infection. This is positive behavior and in such an ideal situation, the subsidy should be given for such behavior, it should not be taxed. '

 

Public policy experts around the world are seeking to cheapen the investigation. They say that investigation should be promoted in the public interest, rather than keeping it costly. If the average Covid-19 investigation costs a quarter of an Indian income, it cannot be called an incentive from anywhere.

 

Number of infected is close to 1 million

 

The number of coronavirus infections in the country has reached close to one million. According to the Health Ministry data, more than 32,000 cases of Covid have been reported in India in a single day for the first time. The total number of infected people increased to 9,68,876 on Thursday.

 

With this, the death toll rose to 24,915 with 606 more deaths due to corona infection. According to the data released by the ministry till eight o'clock in the morning, 32,695 cases of coronavirus infection were reported in a single day in the country. About 80 percent of these cases have come from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Telangana, West Bengal and Bihar. Although 6,12,814 people have recovered so far, 3,31,146 infected patients are being treated. This is slightly more than a third of the total Covid-19 patients in the country. The ministry said, so far, about 63.25 percent of the patients have recovered.