Kerala decides to conduct 2.5 lakh Covid-19 tests in next two days

The Kerala government on Thursday decided to conduct 2.5 lakh Covid-19 tests over the next two days against the backdrop of sudden spurt in positive cases in the state. The test positivity in Kerala has risen to 13.45 per cent on Wednesday.

After a high-level meeting, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the government is planning a three-pronged strategy to crush the Covid-19 curve; massive testing, stringent curbs, and vaccination. All districts have been asked to make arrangements for large-scale testing and attain the target fixed for each district.

In the special testing drive, focus would be on high-risk categories of people such as those in service sectors such as tourism, political workers as well as leaders who have been active in election campaigns, those living in Covid-19 hotspots, workers of malls and delivery executives. Mobile RT-PCR testing units would be deployed in hotspots.

Although Covid-19 cases have been spiking in Kerala in the last week, the government has decided to go along with the Class 10 and 12 exams conducted by the state examination boards. The meeting suggested that students should not be denied travel facilities on account of restrictions at containment zones.

As part of curbs, the high-level meeting decided that prior permission should be made mandatory for all public functions. The number of participants for outdoor events was limited to 150 that of indoor at 50.

On Wednesday, Kerala had reported 8,778 new cases taking the total active cases to 58,245. In the 24 hours on Wednesday, the state had tested 65,258 samples. In January, when covid-19 cases had peaked in Kerala, the government had decided to increase the daily testing to one lakh and increase the share of RT-PCR tests in the bouquet of Covid-19 tests. Although the cases are up, the state health infrastructure is not under pressure as a major chunk of the Covid-19 cases, either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms, has been isolated at their homes. Of 58,000-odd positive cases on Wednesday, only 8,000-odd have been hospitalised across the state. As many as 673 patients are in ICU and 193 are on ventilator support.