Nearly nine months after it started testing samples for COVID-19, Tamil Nadu on Sunday hit the milestone of one crore tests using RT-PCR kits.
“Tamil Nadu is the only State which goes entirely by RT-PCR testing. With laboratories in all districts, the State’s capacity is over one lakh tests per day,” Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan said.
With 73,012 samples having been tested in the last 24 hours, the number of RT-PCR tests done so far stands at 1,00,29,222.
P. Umanath, Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation, said, “The success of Tamil Nadu’s strategy of using only RT-PCR [tests] is exemplified by the fact that it is the only State where the active case count has not increased after July. It easily accounts for the highest [number of] RT-PCR tests per million population among the major States. Still, we need to continue maintaining the aggressive testing strategy to mitigate any probable surge in the winter months.”
According to data available with the Health Department, as of October 31, Tamil Nadu accounted for the second-highest number of samples tested in the country next only to Uttar Pradesh, where a total of 1,48,63,388 samples had been tested. However in Uttar Pradesh, rapid antigen tests were done in significant proportions. Maharashtra came third, having tested 89,06,826 samples.
Tamil Nadu’s test positivity rate, as of October 31, was 7.28%, placing the State seventh in the country.
The State started testing samples in February after the first laboratory for COVID-19 testing was set up at the King Institute of Preventive Medicine, Chennai. Prior to this, samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune. The first laboratory-confirmed case was reported on March 7.
“Going forward, the focus will be on aggressive testing, contact tracing and testing at least 10 times the number of positives in the districts. Of late, in addition to those taken at hospitals and fever camps, samples are being taken from street vendors and marketplaces,” the Health Secretary said.
This is how the testing of samples has progressed in the State — 2,546 samples tested in March, 1,17,394 in April, 3,72,416 in May, 6,78,721 in June, 14,87,455 in July, 21,55,009 in August, 25,40,876 in September and 26,02,160 in October.
However, the number of samples tested per day has declined from over 90,000 in early October to 70,000 now. The seven-day average was 75,140 (October 25 to 31). As of November 1, a total of 97,60,029 persons had been tested.
The Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC) has ordered 88.26 lakh RT-PCR testing kits till date. Of them, 69.36 lakh kits have been received by TNMSC so far. Another 2.78 lakh kits were provided by the Central government and 53,000 were donated. TNMSC has provided 68.37 lakh kits to hospitals so far. Currently, 7.5 lakh kits are available with hospitals and 4.2 lakh kits are available with TNMSC.
The State has a total of 203 testing facilities — 66 in the government sector and 137 in the private sector.
