BENGALURU: The seven-day average test positivity rate (TPR) has fallen below 1% as on October 13. Karnataka, shows data from the State Covid-19 War Room. TPR has also fallen below 1% in districts like Mysore, Hassan and Uttara Kannada, where cases increased over the past few weeks before gradually declining. The state average test positivity rate (TPR) is slightly less than 0.4%.
Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said, “We are proud that all the districts have recorded TPR less than 1%.” On Vijaya Dashami / Dussehra.
“Around 11 districts have TPRs above the state average, with Mysuru having the highest at 0.9%. It could be because of Dussehra celebrations,” Sudhakar said. “However, we are prepared and we have taken adequate measures. Nineteen other districts have TPRs below the state average. We are also proud that about six districts have achieved zero or almost zero TPR.” War room data shows that Yadgir had zero TPR on October 13, while Bagalkot, Haveri, Gadag, Kalaburagi and Koppal had rates close to zero.
But the minister warned: “We are not safe until everyone is protected. With comprehensive vaccination coverage, with the combined efforts of healthcare workers, covid warriors and frontline workers, we are confident that we will overcome the pandemic. ”
not appropriate
However, epidemiologist and state Covid-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) member Dr Giridhar R Babu said it is “not appropriate” to rely on “only one” metric like TPR to assume that the disease is contained. .
Dr Babu said that there is a need to continuously monitor the indicators like Case Mortality Rate (CFR), Vaccination, Testing and Hospitalization rate apart from several factors like health infrastructure and percentage of older population. He said that genomic sequencing should be increased to detect new variants quickly.
Health department officials say testing has been the cornerstone of the fight against Covid from the very beginning. “We did not reduce the number of tests even when the cases were low. A senior official said, we feel that if and when there is a resurgence of cases, it is important to catch the infection early.
Over the past several weeks, the state has continued to conduct 1.1 lakh to 1.3 lakh tests a day. As previously reported by TOI, the TAC, after a meeting on October 10, recommended that the government reduce the number of tests in the state to 1.1 lakh per day, as the positivity rate gradually fell.
TAC members said Bengaluru would have to conduct 50,000 tests a day, while the rest of Karnataka could have 60,000 tests. However, the government is yet to issue an official order on the revised testing targets.
Officials working on surveillance measures say border districts like Dakshina Kannada and Mysore were at higher risk due to the high number of cases reported in Kerala in the past few months.
Another health official said, “It is good to see that even in those districts the TPR has fallen below 1%.” “But fewer cases means no cases. Covid is still very much around and people should follow covid-appropriate behaviour. ”
Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said, “We are proud that all the districts have recorded TPR less than 1%.” On Vijaya Dashami / Dussehra.
“Around 11 districts have TPRs above the state average, with Mysuru having the highest at 0.9%. It could be because of Dussehra celebrations,” Sudhakar said. “However, we are prepared and we have taken adequate measures. Nineteen other districts have TPRs below the state average. We are also proud that about six districts have achieved zero or almost zero TPR.” War room data shows that Yadgir had zero TPR on October 13, while Bagalkot, Haveri, Gadag, Kalaburagi and Koppal had rates close to zero.
But the minister warned: “We are not safe until everyone is protected. With comprehensive vaccination coverage, with the combined efforts of healthcare workers, covid warriors and frontline workers, we are confident that we will overcome the pandemic. ”
not appropriate
However, epidemiologist and state Covid-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) member Dr Giridhar R Babu said it is “not appropriate” to rely on “only one” metric like TPR to assume that the disease is contained. .
Dr Babu said that there is a need to continuously monitor the indicators like Case Mortality Rate (CFR), Vaccination, Testing and Hospitalization rate apart from several factors like health infrastructure and percentage of older population. He said that genomic sequencing should be increased to detect new variants quickly.
Health department officials say testing has been the cornerstone of the fight against Covid from the very beginning. “We did not reduce the number of tests even when the cases were low. A senior official said, we feel that if and when there is a resurgence of cases, it is important to catch the infection early.
Over the past several weeks, the state has continued to conduct 1.1 lakh to 1.3 lakh tests a day. As previously reported by TOI, the TAC, after a meeting on October 10, recommended that the government reduce the number of tests in the state to 1.1 lakh per day, as the positivity rate gradually fell.
TAC members said Bengaluru would have to conduct 50,000 tests a day, while the rest of Karnataka could have 60,000 tests. However, the government is yet to issue an official order on the revised testing targets.
Officials working on surveillance measures say border districts like Dakshina Kannada and Mysore were at higher risk due to the high number of cases reported in Kerala in the past few months.
Another health official said, “It is good to see that even in those districts the TPR has fallen below 1%.” “But fewer cases means no cases. Covid is still very much around and people should follow covid-appropriate behaviour. ”
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