Over 33 lakh samples tested so far: Data from south states, Maharashtra

ICMR tested 1,19,976 samples in the last 24 hours.
a student being screened for temperature
a student being screened for temperature
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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 33,62,136 samples had been tested as of 9 am on May 28. As per ICMR's bulletin, 1,19,976 samples were tested in 24 hours, from 9 am on May 27 to 9 am on May 28.

Here are the state-wise numbers as of 10 am on May 28:

> Andhra Pradesh has tested 3,32,378 samples out of which 3,29,261 were negative. As on May 27, the state has a total of 3,117 cases, with 2057 recoveries and 58 deaths.

> Kerala has tested 58,866 samples so far and of these, 56,558 have returned negative. The state currently has 1003 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 552 recoveries and 7 deaths.

> Tamil Nadu has tested 4,42,970 samples so far, with 18,545 people testing positive. 4,23,775 samples tested negative and results of 650 samples are awaited. A total of 9,909 patients have recovered and 133 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 2,98 people have tested positive so far, with 1,321 recoveries. The state has recorded 63 deaths so far.

> Karnataka has tested 2,41,608 samples, with 2,418 people testing positive and 2,35,876 samples returning negative. The state has recorded 47 COVID-19 deaths, while 781 persons have recovered.

> Maharashtra has tested 4,03,976 samples, out of which 54,948 have tested positive. 1,897 people have died from the disease in the state, while 17,918 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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