Max case positivity in Kanpur, highest testing in Lucknow

LUCKNOW: While Lucknow ranks number one in terms of coronavirus testing, Kanpur accounts for the highest case positivity rate (CPR), according to an assessment of data undertaken by the state health and family welfare department.
Sources revealed that over 4.5 lakh tests have been conducted in the state capital which translates into a CPR of about 8.8%. Kanpur ranks fourth among the top 10 in terms of number of tests conducted, but its CPR is over 9%. To note, the case positivity rate refers to the number of persons turning positive among those tested.
A crucial tool to measure extent and activity of the pandemic, CPR of UP remains under the prescribed limit of 5%. For the entire month of August it has dwindled around 4%, while the current figure is 4.1%. Also, the current CPR for India is around 8.4%. Accordingly, both Lucknow and Kanpur have a higher turnout of positive cases among those tested.
Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad follow next in terms of number of tests, but their CPR is around the state average of 4%. Citing WHO documents, experts pointed out that a CPR of less than 3% and more than 12% spoke about testing inadequacies and called for micro-assessment of the situation.
Secretary to CM, Alok Kumar said: “The CM is personally tracking the progress of testing in every district. While he has instructed the state to scale up testing further as it is the most important part of our strategy to contain the pandemic, he has told district officials to use numbers for micro planning purposes to control the situation. In addition, the data is helping the state assess progress of contact tracing in districts – another crucial pillar of Covid-19 containment strategy.”
The Union ministry of health and family welfare has said that all states must try and keep their CPR around 5%. In this way, a CPR in the range of 3%-5% was considered as good by health officials. This means that the situation in the two NCR districts is under control. The assessment also revealed that the testing status in Sravasti, Shamli, Badaun, Banda, Auraiya, Farrukhabad and Chitrakoot was not satisfactory.