What is Pool Testing and Where can it be Used ?

Number of Positive cases are Increasing Exponentially in India, this dosen't provide any Good signs to the table for Lockdown 2.0, atleast in it's Initial phase it don't. As it seems Mass Testing is the only option for now, India has been Accelerating it's Testing capacities since the start of the Pandemic to deal with the Outrage caused. Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) has an ambition of testing 1,00,000 samples a day whereas the current Infrastructure supports testing of 16,000-18,000 samples each day.

Testing of multiple suspected Corona virus patients through Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction(RT PCR) is known as Pool Testing. RT PCR is the same method as which is used for Individual Testing as well. Samples of a batch with 2 or more people are tested through the same kit, if the batch result came to be Positive, each and every Individual from that batch would be checked seperately and If the batch came to be Negative, there is no need for futher scrutiny. ICMR told, 'It dosen't Support Testing of more than 5 People in each batch'.

For Example : 100 People are Divided into Batches of 5 people each, 20 Batches in total. Not every Individual would be checked from those batches but a Combined Sample would be examined, if the sample came to be Positive, All of the 5 people from that batch would be checked seperately for the corona, If the batch came to be Negative, then there is no need for futher Examination.

This Method has it's own Advantages and Drawbacks According to ICMR respectively :

1) Proper Utilisation of Resouces - In a Country with a Population of over 1.3 Billion, each and every Testing Kit is Important and with Pool Testing it is expected to Optimize Resources. ICMR expects to save 3/4 testing kits if this method is conducted throughout.

2) Cost Effective - For now India is not Producing Significant number of Testing Kits by Itself, most of the kits used here are Imported through different Nations hence Increasing the Cost as well as Dependability. Pool testing would be a major role player in bringing the Cost Down.

3) Manpower : The Less the Manpower Involved the better chances of their survival as all are prone to the Disease equally be it Doctors, Nurses or Sanitary Staff. Pool Testing will bring down the number of Manpower needed in the process.

Not Everything is in the favour of Pool Testing, Here is what ICMR has to say on the Drawbacks :

1) Pool Testing cannot be used in Regions where the number of Total Positive cases against the Total number of Individual Tested is above 2%. 

For Example : If the Total Number of Individuals Tested in a State or Region is 100 and Number of Positives among them came to be 2 or over 2 People, then this method is not Applicable according to ICMR. The Efficiency and Effectiveness of this Process Diminishes in the Regions where the number of Positives are Critical. 

In more Simpler Sense,

States having Number of Positives/Total Number of Tested as above 2% shall not Conduct Pool Testing.