The state reached another milestone during the pandemic with the COVID-19 tests, which crossed the five crore mark on Saturday. Despite the decline in new cases for the last two months, the state is conducting an average of one lakh tests per day. With 1,20,073 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the total number of tests on Saturday stood at 5,00,31,061.
With this, Karnataka is one of the two states that rank third in the country—after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra—that have tested 8.2 crore and 6.2 crore samples respectively. While Tamil Nadu has also conducted over five crore tests, Bihar and Kerala have conducted 4.9 crore and 3.7 crore tests respectively.
From an average of 80 tests a day in March last year, when the pandemic hit Karnataka, the state tested a total of over one crore samples till November 21, 2020. Thereafter, another one crore samples were tested in four months and on March 17, 2021. The total number of tests crossed the two crore mark. By June 3, the total tests crossed three crore four crore by August 10. After this, it took 73 days for the state to add another crore tests.
Out of the total 5,00,31,061 tests conducted so far, more than 81% have been done using Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) method.
districts under pressure
When restrictions were eased in August, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had made it clear that restrictions would have to be reimposed and schools reopened in districts where the test positivity rate exceeded 2%. Subsequently, the district authorities were forced to conduct further tests to keep the TPR below 2%.
Though a target of 1.5 lakh was set, the number of daily tests was reduced to between 79,000 and 1.6 lakh in September. Health officials said this was mainly because people were now hesitant to get tested, especially when they had no symptoms.
Recommending a total daily target of 1.1 lakh by November, the TAC suggested that 50,000 tests should be conducted daily in Bengaluru and 60,000 in the rest of Karnataka.
Of the 60,000 tests, half should be in border districts, the TAC recommended. Now, despite the decline in new cases, the daily tests have come down to around one lakh as per the revised testing target.
V. Ravi, the nodal officer for genomic confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 in Karnataka and member of the state’s COVID-19 TAC, said it is important for the state to maintain the same level of testing regardless of the daily caseload until at least December. Was.
CN Manjunath, the nodal officer for laboratories and testing, said there is a lot of hesitation among people to take tests now. “But all symptomatic and their families should be tested as family clusters and breakthrough infections are being reported,” he said.
children’s test
Since there is an apprehension that a possible third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic will affect children more, the TAC recommended that 10% of the total tests be compulsorily conducted on children below the age of 18 years. Analysis of one-month trial data (September 21- October 21, 2021) showed that out of the total testing conducted, 20.8% were tested in children below the age of 18 years, officials said.
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