India has ramped up testing since the 21-day lockdown was announced on March 24, which has now been extended to May 3.
According to ICMR’s 9 pm bulletin on April 19, a total 4,01,586 samples from 3,83,985 individuals have been tested. 17,615 individuals have been confirmed positive till date.
On April 19, till 9 pm, 27,824 samples were reported. Of these, 1,135 were found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2.
Here are the state-wise numbers as of 11 am on April 20:
— Andhra Pradesh has tested 26,958 samples. The state has 647 positive cases, 17 COVID-19 deaths, and 65 persons who have recovered.
— Kerala has tested 19,351 samples so far and of these, 18,547 have returned negative. The state currently has 401 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 270 recoveries and 3 deaths.
— Tamil Nadu has tested 40,876 samples so far, with 1,477 people testing positive. 31,853 samples have returned negative while 2,411 are under process. The state has recorded 15 COVID-19 deaths, while 411 people have recovered.
— Telangana provided data on samples tested for the first time on April 19 since the pandemic broke out. A total of 14,962 samples have been tested in the state of which 858 tested positive. 768 samples are under process. 18 people have died from COVID-19 in the state, and 186 persons have recovered till date.
— Karnataka has collected 21,367 samples, with 390 people testing positive. The state has recorded 16 COVID-19 deaths, while 111 persons have recovered.
— Maharashtra has tested 72,023 samples, with 67,673 negative and 4,200 samples testing positive till date. The state has recorded 223 COVID-19 deaths, while 507 people have recovered.
Public health experts have called for wider testing to check for community transmission of COVID-19. The Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) testing strategy has now been expanded and all symptomatic patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) - those with fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose - need to be tested in hotspots/clusters (identified by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) and in large migration gatherings/ evacuees centres. Symptomatic ILI patients will have to be tested within seven days of presenting with the illness.
Earlier, the guidelines limited testing to those who have international travel history and are symptomatic; those who have contact history with a confirmed COVID-19 case and have symptoms of the virus; healthcare workers who are symptomatic; patients hospitalised with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI); and a direct or high-risk contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case who can be symptomatic or asymptomatic.
Presently, only the RT-PCR or the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test can detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. However, ICMR has allowed places that are hotspots (high number of cases) to test residents using the rapid antibody kits, which can deliver results within 30-45 minutes as opposed to 24 hours that an RT-PCR test. However, a positive result by the rapid antibody test will have to be further tested by the RT-PCR test to confirm for the novel coronavirus. ICMR advises those with a negative result by the rapid antibody test to be home quarantined.
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