The Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) has conducted a total of 1,568 tests since the first positive COVID-19 case was reported in Madurai.

Collector T. G. Vinay said that swab tests were conducted for 200 people with influenza-like illness, for 338 people with severe acute respiratory illness and for 1,030 frontline workers with other issues. Of them, 60 have tested positive till date according to the State government’s health bulletin. This puts the percentage of positive cases among the persons tested at 3.82%. Many patients are asymptomatic and 45 persons have been discharged till date. Thirty active cases are being treated at the GRH. The diagnostic team in Madurai predominantly uses Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test.

Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association president K Senthil says that the machine to perform the RT-PRC test can be used for testing 144 samples at a time. Results of negative cases will be available in four hours and positive cases in eight hours. With a recent set of cases without any travel history, there is a suspicion of community spread of the virus. The death of 71-year-old patient on Thursday night is an example.

If the lockdown is lifted before the virus is contained fully, there will be a spike in the number of positive cases. So, we suggest random testing among the population immediately. Doctors at the GRH are working hard to break the chain. With strict monitoring of containment zones and random testing of samples from crowded areas, Madurai will stand a good chance at containing community spread, he adds.