TPR down, Odisha govt shifts to population-based testing

BHUBANESWAR: Even as the daily test positivity rate (TPR) has dropped below three per cent in the State, the government has decided to shift to population-based testing strategy to catch the spread of the virus more effectively. 

The testing strategy has till now been based on the disease burden in the districts. With drop in positivity rate across the districts and now seemingly concentrated in the urban areas and high population regions, it has been decided to conduct tests in proportionate to the population of a particular area, Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra said. 

“The decision on population-based testing was taken as the infection is now uniformly distributed. It is a good sign that the positivity rate has come down substantially. People are being sensitised to adhere to Covid appropriate behaviour. The number of cases should come to single digit in every district,” he said.

Meanwhile, the State tally soared to 2,98,768 while 15 more patients succumbed to the disease taking the death toll to 1,446. The daily case count stood at 1,494 in the last 24 hours as compared to 1,385 the previous day.  Three districts recorded more than 100 cases with Khurda accounting for 153, followed by Cuttack 112 and Balasore 102. 

However, the number of cases is on the rise in Jagatsinghpur and Balasore districts after the bypolls. The number of new infections in Balasore is the highest since the bypoll was conducted on November 3. It had registered 36, 78, 48 and 53 cases on October 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively. The cases in Jagatsinghpur were, however, 50, 67, 73 and 53 on the corresponding dates. 

The rise in cases has prompted department to ramp up testing in the districts. The number of tests has gone up from 40,000 last week to 51,000 this week.