The Chhattisgarh government has

decided to adopt "pool testing" technique to expedite the process of COVID-19 testing and cover more ground, a health official said on Wednesday.

As many as 33 persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Chhattisgarh, of which 13 have recovered from the infection.

Taking to Twitter, state Health Minister T S Singh Deo said, "In order to effectively use the extended lockdown period, I have initiated measures to start pool testing, in at least one of our labs, at the earliest. This would help us in increasing Covid-19 testing by manifolds."

Scientists from the state have sought detailed technical guidelines from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to undertake "pool testing" for COVID-19, secretary of the health department Niharika Barik Singh said.

"Under the pool testing method, generally (swab) samples from least affected areas are pooled together and tested. If the result of a collection of samples comes out negative, then all samples in that group are considered negative," she said.

However, if the result of the collection was found to be positive, then each sample from the group is tested individually to confirm which one was positive for the virus, Singh said.

"Our scientists have sought detailed technical guidelines from the ICMR and as soon as it reverts, we will start the process in a day or two," she added.

The method will not only reduce the number of kits used for testing, but it will also help the authorities to cover more ground in a short span of time, she said.

According to health officials, of the 4,821 samples tested in the state so far, only 33 were found to be positive, while 4,319 came out negative and reports of 469 were awaited.

Moreover, of the 33 COVID-19 patients, 13 were cured following treatment, they said.

At present, samples are being tested at AIIMS Raipur, Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Medical College in Raipur and Jagdalpur Medical College in Bastar.

As many as 75,837 people, most of them with history of travel abroad or to affected states, were under home quarantine, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)