Will scale up testing in high Covid spread areas, says Thiruvananthapuram district collector

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: District Collector Navjyot Khosa has directed to increase the number of Covid-19 tests and to strengthen containment measures in the 28 panchayats where Covid-19 outbreak is high in the district. The collector also directed PHCs in these panchayats to conduct at least 100 tests a day.  She gave the directions at a meeting of medical officers of health centers at the panchayats with a test positivity rate of over 25 per cent in the district. 

The collector directed the medical officers to work hand in hand with the panchayats to contain the spread. A meeting of the panchayat authorities should be convened every two days to review the preventive measures. Up to 15 teams will be formed at the district level to ensure the availability of staff, she said in the meeting. 

Ward-level data analysis should be done to determine the containment zones. Shifting patients to DCCs and CFLTCs should be encouraged wherever necessary to contain the spread. This will help reduce the formation of clusters within homes, the collector said.District Development Commissioner  Dr Vinay Goel, District Medical Officer Dr K S Shinu and others attended the meeting. 

Dist reports 1,775 new cases of Covid
T’Puram: The district on Sunday reported  1,775 new cases of Covid-19, the highest in the state for the fourth consecutive day. The Test Positivity Rate (TPR) is 14.8 percent which is also higher than the state average of 12.24 per cent. Six health workers were also among the cases. A total of 34 fatalities have also been reported in the last 24 hours. A total of 2,315 patients recovered from Covid-19 in the district on the day, and there are 13,576 active cases. The number of people who are under surveillance is 54,870. 

At a glance:
Sunday’s cases: 1,775 
Recoveries: 2,315
Deaths: 34
Active cases: 13,576