India has doubled down on its testing since the lockdown was announced on March 24, which has now been extended to May 31.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 28,34,798 samples had been tested as of 9 am on May 23. ICMR tested 1,15,364 samples were tested in 24 hours, from 9 am on May 22 to 9 am on May 23.
Here are the state-wise numbers as of 10 am on May 23:
> Andhra Pradesh has tested 2,84,119 samples out of which 2,81,452 were negative. As on May 21, the state has a total of 2,667 cases, with 1,756 recoveries and 55 deaths.
> Kerala has tested 51,310 samples so far and of these, 49,535 have returned negative. The state currently has 733 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 512 recoveries and 5 deaths.
> Tamil Nadu has tested 3,85,185 samples so far, with 17,246 people testing positive. 3,69,929 samples tested negative and results of 503 samples are awaited. A total of 7,128 patients have recovered and 97 patients have died due to the disease.
> Telangana had been providing sample numbers till April 30. However, the updated numbers since then are not known. A total of 1,761 people have tested positive so far, with 1,043 recoveries. The state has recorded 48 deaths so far.
> Karnataka has tested 1,86,526 samples, with 1,743 people testing positive and 1,83,088 samples returning negative. The state has recorded 41 COVID-19 deaths, while 597 persons have recovered.
> Maharashtra has tested 3,32,777 samples, out of which 2,88,195 were negative and 44,582 have tested positive. 1,517 people have died from the disease in the state, while 12,583 have recovered.
On May 18, the ICMR revised its strategy for COVID-19 testing. As per the new guideline, those with a history of international travel in the past 14 days, who show Influenza-like Illness (ILI) symptoms — acute respiratory infection with fever more than 38ºC coupled with cough — will be tested.
Considering that migrant workers and expatriates are returning to their native states, all returnees and migrants, who exhibit symptoms, will be tested within seven days of developing an illness.
Additionally, all asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case will be tested once between day 5 and 10 of coming into contact with a COVID-19 patient, unlike previously between day 5 and 14.
The other patients that will be tested include:
* Symptomatic contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases
* Symptomatic health care workers or frontline workers involved in containment and mitigation of the disease
* Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) patients
* Symptomatic individuals within hotspots and containment zones
* Hospitalised patients who develop symptoms
The ICMR has recommended that all testing be done only with real-time RT-PCR or the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test. This test can detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
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