FAQs on COVID-19 tests and prevention

   1.       The rapid anti-body test for COVID-19 is just like the ELISA test for HIV/AIDS. Both these indicate the presence of anti-bodies but both may give false positive and false negative results i.e. they are not 100% reliable; also these tests being positive only show that infection may have occurred sometime in the past – few days to few weeks to few months. The confirmatory test (RT-PCR) involves taking a swab from the nose/throat and checks for the genetic material of the virus.

   2.       The three things for prevention of COVID-19 infection are frequent hand washing, maintaining social distancing and wearing a face-mask. Hand washing ensures that if we touch a surface where the virus is stuck and we touch this surface and then take our fingers to inside of mouth; inside of nose and inside of eyes then the virus is able to multiply there. The skin of the inside of these three areas is very thin and called mucus membrane. In India nose picking is very common with the index finger; the index finger is also used to clean the corner of the eye where discharge has got collected; some people use this finger to remove the food particles stuck between the gums and the inner part of the cheek.

   So if the index finger is contaminated with the virus any of these three activities will ensure that virus multiplies and then spread in the body.

    During an open hearing in the Supreme Court one of us saw a judge indulging in nose picking with his index finger. So we have to get rid of these habits.