Kuwait is currently performing around 4,000 COVID-19 tests a day, but how does that compare with the rest of the world? Is it a lot? Too little?
According to Worldometer, a website that is trusted by the UK Government, the New York Times, BBC and many others, Kuwait ranks 20th worldwide when it comes to tests per 1 million of the population. The highest tested country in this list is the Faeroe Islands, while UAE ranks third. Below are some highlights but for the full list here is the link.
1- Faeroe Islands
2- Iceland
3- UAE
5- Bahrain
13- Denmark
16- Spain
20- Kuwait
21- Qatar
24- Italy
28- Russia
36- UK
39- USA
66- Saudi Arabia
74- Jordan
91- Lebanon
139- India
147- Egypt
24 replies on “COVID-19 testing, how do we compare with the rest of the world?”
So proud of the whole Gulf by the way. This is our shining moment.
The MOH release the number of “tests” and not “swabs” or “PCR test” which are the gold-standard for COVID-19 testing. They include the inaccurate rapid serological test in their total tested. Basically cheating to inflate the number of test….
Yeah but so do all the other countries listed over there. Kuwait isn’t the only one using these rapid tests and i don’t think they’re even using it anymore. for example the drive thru center originally was meant to have 2 lanes for rapid tests and 1 lane for swab tests. now all the lanes are for swab tests. those random neighborhood tests? those are swab tests as well.
Other countries are not using the rapid test (at least developed ones). There are two types of serological testing (rapid = garbage, and the proper test which takes a day to get the result = decent). People get the two mixed up and they think they are the same.
Well if you go to news.google.com and search you’re not gonna like what you’ll find cuz it will contradict what you just stated. Other countries are/were using rapid testing and kuwait like most other countries are phasing those tests out. https://news.google.com/search?q=Rapid%20testing%20covid&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen
We don’t do the rapid test anymore. We haven’t used it for a while actually.
Not true. I had to do a rapid test just a couple days back when I was being admitted to the hospital (unrelated reasons).
We don’t use it to diagnose COVID-19.. If you are a suspected case, we rely on symptoms, x-ray and swab testing.
If you were admitted for something else and you don’t have symptoms or risk factors, you don’t get tested, rapid test or swab. That’s the ministry guidelines. Whether it’s followed in specific situations or not is irrelevant to the fact that per guidelines we’re not allowed to use the rapid test to diagnose or rule out COVID-19 infections.
Worth mentioning that Kuwait was not listing on the website when it first started… we only started adding our numbers on it I think a couple of weeks later
Testing isn’t proportional to population size, that’s an irrelevant metric. The WHO advises that total daily testing should have less than 10% positive (otherwise you are not doing enough testing). Kuwait has seen an average 1000 new cases daily, and therefore our number of test should be over 10k daily.
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/03/30/824127807/if-most-of-your-coronavirus-tests-come-back-positive-youre-not-testing-enough
It’s actually a very relevant metric but what you’ve also stated is true… but, are the tests in Kuwait completely random? or are they targetted? I don’t know the answer to that but if they’re targetted then obviously the number of cases coming back positive is going to be higher than if they were just random tests. The fact right now the number of positive cases coming back is around 25% leads me to believe the majority of the tests here are targetted.
I’m not sure if the information I am providing is accurate. This is based on an assumption (please, no one quote me. I am likely wrong). I think the percentage of positive results are quite high (around 20%) because kuwait is testing infected areas, so OBVIOUSLY it will be higher than people anticipate.
Also, I’m assuming that since there is a total lockdown (mostly no one going anywhere but their local supermarkets), the MOH is analyzing how likely an area is infected by testing staff members of the co-ops. This helps them identify areas that may or may not have an outbreak and further conduct random testing.
Whatever the plan is, I’m 100% sure the MOH know what they’re doing and I find it odd that people feel the liberty to criticize every move they do when we don’t know a fraction of what the experts know.
Personally, I’d be worried if Kuwait was reporting below 400 cases daily because that’s impossible as of now. This is how viruses work sadly, they spread rapidly. So let’s all wait and see what happens by June.
Aren’t most people getting tested being targeted?
there are also random tests taking place
Kuwait actually has a low share of positive tests out of the total number of tests it has done. To date Kuwait has done 248,314 tests and only 15,691 tests came back as positive, which gives a positive rate of 6.3%, much lower than the WHO 10% threshold
We get about 20% positives everyday which is still a lot more than other countries including Italy and Spain. Hope the government increases the testing capacity, doing a great job till now
Kuwait is far from perfect in a lot that it does, but there is no country on earth that is utopian. Having lived in many countries, I believe Kuwait is better than the vast majority.
As far as Coronavirus goes, I would rather take my chances here than elsewhere.
At the end of the day, the majority of us are here as guests of the Kuwaitis; if we do not like it, we can (most of us with financial means) leave.
It is easy to be a keyboard warrior and criticise, mostly with the benefit of hindsight. It is a lot more difficult to make decisions based on unknowns, lack of precedent, and being in the firing line 24hrs a day.
I see the same people on this blog, criticising Kuwait, the Kuwaitis and decisions made at every opportunity. It begs the question, if you do not like it, why are you guys who complain as a pastime still here?
If people think they can do better and do not like the decisions being made, let them go back to their own country and make an effort to influence decisions there.
Alternatively, if you are not okay living in a country where ppl are criticizing that country does that mean… gosh, you aren’t happy with the way the country is?
So what keeps you here – in kuwait and on the internet, if you are so unhappy about criticism?
Criticism isn’t one-sided. Yall are like the mean step-sister trying to find anything to rant about.
I salute you, you make very constructive statements. We appreciate it. We need more expats like you. If only Mark had your attitude and gave back to this community the way it has nourished and welcomed him then maybe the negativity on this blog would die down.
You fucking idiot, you’re actually saying this bullshit under this specific post where I highlight how Kuwait is actually doing great on testing and where in the comments I’m defending Kuwait? Go fuck yourself.
+1
Just for clarity my comment was regards the negativity of many posters towards Kuwait – not Mark.
I feel that Mark calls it like it is and where Kuwait is doing good things he praises – where it’s response is of concern he calls it out.
Not sure who trump paid to get #39 on the list. The USA is an absolute joke and needs to take guidance from Kuwait on how to handle this pandemic.