Test positivity rate triples in Nilgiris

Udhagamandalam: The Nilgiris has seen a steep surge in the test positivity rate over the past four weeks. The weekly average of the test positivity rate has tripled to 16.7% during May13-19 from 5% during April22-28. The other two districts that have seen the positivity rate more than triple during the period are Tirupattur and Kallakurichi.
The average test positivity rate for the past four days has, meanwhile, further shot up to 19% in the Nilgiris.
Dr P Balusamy, deputy director of public health, said their focus was not limited to containment zones alone. “We also focus on areas surrounding those zones. Special volunteer teams have been screening people with symptoms at their doorsteps for the past two weeks. Hence, samples tested per day has increased and so is the test positivity rate.”
According to the official, quick contact tracing and testing of people with symptoms have helped them curtail the transmission. “In another three days, positive cases will decline in the district, where anywhere between 2,250 and 2,800 samples are tested daily.”
The district has 11 Covid care centres with 1,233 beds and another three Covid health centres with 150 beds. “There are 66 beds vacant in the Ooty Government Medical College and Hospital and 27 and 22 in the Coonoor and Kotagiri government hospitals, respectively.”
On Monday, the hill retreat reported 435 new cases of Covid, taking the tally to 15,651, of which 2,901 are active cases. The number of recovered patients rose to 12,677 with 377 more getting discharged on the day. The Covid toll, meanwhile, increased to 73, with three more patients succumbing to the virus.