Over 20,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 in the Nilgiris.

Speaking to reporters after the inauguration of the RT-PCR laboratory at the Government Headquarters Hospital in Udhagamandalam, District Collector J. Innocent Divya said that the lab has the capacity to process up to 270 samples to test for COVID-19 each day.

The Collector said that on average, anywhere between 600 and 700 samples are being collected in the district, so the samples are being sent to Coimbatore as well for testing. “The positivity rate in the Nilgiris is 0.9 %,” said the Collector, adding that the number of tests conducted in the district was among the highest in Tamil Nadu.

The district administration was also ramping up COVID care facilities for asymptomatic patients, with a 120-bed facility being set up in a private school in Udhagamandalam. “We have been asked to ramp up COVID care facilities, as it is expected that the number of novel coronavirus infections could increase, so we are even ramping up Primary Health Centres to be capable of treating patients,” said the Collector.

People employed in a private company in Yellanalli, as well as their family, friends and contacts are being tested, after a cluster emerged from the company which has contributed to around half the total infections recorded in the district so far.