There is a big drop in West Bengal's COVID-19 samples sent for testing with not even 20 samples per day since 8 April 2020.

West Bengal's Governor, Dhankhar posted a video on his Twitter where NICED Chief Shanta Dutta said the number of COVID-19 tests in the state is low.

In a video as of 13 April 2020, Director of ICMR-NICED, Dr Shanta Dutta had said that they used to get 80-90 samples during 24 hours, but from the past 3-4 days since then, they were not getting enough samples for testing. On 7 April they received only 18 samples and on 8 April only 9 samples. She further mentioned that by comparing the test done in other states, the number is too low in West Bengal.

West Bengal's Governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar in the same video asked the government of West Bengal to take necessary action and look into the matter at the earliest.

The Times of India article has also stated that the COVID-19 samples being sent for testing dropped sharply in West Bengal. On 8 April 2020 National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) received nine samples, whereas 70 were sent to School of Tropical Medicine and, 90 to SSKM hospital. Further, stated that they were not even reaching the 20-sample mark per day.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19 including symptoms, prevention and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organisation or your national healthcare authority.

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