First of all, local data simply isn’t that available, while national totals acutely underreport the reality.
Across the Democratic Republic of Congo or Turkey (where I am currently living) even in China where it all started, an unknown but presumably large number of people are packing COVID-19 around without even knowing it, while only the most severely ill typically even get tested. As for knowing whether someone in your house, neighbourhood, town or community might have the disease, well just one thing, forget about it.
Let’s face it, a hand of local and national reporting protocols, an entirely insufficient testing capacity, and the multi-day wait for results have conspired to render the total case count acutely lower than reality, while offering no insight to the public into what might be happening in outlying communities, small towns or even large cities.
Just the other day, I spent over 4 hours watching reports about the fast-spreading of COVID-19, and all those reports can be summarized as follow :
“Public Health does not report data at the city level because that is not an effective way to track and respond to disease when there is community spread. It can give a false sense of safety or a false sense of danger. Everyone should assume they can come in contact with COVID-19 at this time and take precautions immediately by themselves.”
Sorry you are not ill enough to be tested
That’s right. “Not everyone needs to be tested for COVID-19 since most people have mild illness and are able to recover at home.” That’s what the task force created by president Felix Tshisekedi stated.
The same task force’s advice to people who wish to be tested would be somewhat humorous if it weren’t so deadly serious: “If you have symptoms of COVID-19 and want to get tested, try calling your state or local health department or a medical provider. While supplies of these tests are increasing, it may still be difficult to find a place to get tested.” Meanwhile, not a single healthcare facility has been inaugurated so far to retaliate the calamity of COVID-19.
Far away from Congo, this time in Turkey, the cost of testing for COVID-19 is 1250TL in some private laboratories, this has caused panic across the country to the extent that some people on Twitter called this practice out and saw no need to even test themselves.
The Total Number of Contaminated is Unknown
For every person diagnosed with COVID-19, perhaps five to 10 other people are infected but have not been tested and, in some cases, may not realize they have it.
Don’t Walk In
Currently, only people with relatively clear and obvious (and relatively serious) COVID-19 symptoms such as difficulty breathing and fever or who were in close contact with some diagnosed with the disease, are eligible for testing, amid a clear lack of testing capability nationwide. If you’ve only lost your sense of smell, which recently emerged as a possible indicator of COVID-19, don’t expect a test.
Meanwhile, if you have the following symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath) please call the nurse line so that they can direct you to the most appropriate place for care.
Have it in mind, it can take up to five days for test results to be returned, according to HonorHealth, a timeframe typical across countries that can vary due to the number of daily tests. That’s yet another reason why the total case count is unknown. Everyone who tests positive today won’t even be in the various databases until next week. Meantime, more people are being infected and won’t realize it for anywhere from 2 to 14 days, which is the coronavirus incubation period, if they realize it at all.
P.s: As a Muslim, all that I can wish for everyone out there reading this article is Allah’s mercy upon us all the umma. And if by any circumstance we happen to be infected, let’s all remember that nothing bad comes from Allah because when a calamity falls upon us, it’s Allah’s way of purifying our sins. Stay safe !