There was hardly any change in the number of people undergoing COVID-19 tests on the first day of a 10-day State-wide lockdown that began on Wednesday.
The number of tests in the past one week ranged from 65,000 to 76,000 a day. On Wednesday, 69,525 people underwent testing. However, officials in some districts said a marginal drop in the numbers was observed.
Director of Public Health G. Srinivasa Rao, on Tuesday, had said that the lockdown will not affect any health services in the State and that people who suspect that they have contracted COVID can go to their nearest testing centre and avail the services.
Private labs are anticipating an increase in the demand for doorstep collection of samples as movement of people will be restricted for most part of the day.
COO of Neuberg Diagnostics, Aishwarya Vasudevan said the lockdown has pushed up the demand for COVID testing and other blood tests at home. “We collected 67 COVID samples from people’s homes till evening and we expect this trend to continue for a while as people don’t feel safe stepping out,” said Ms Aishwarya, adding that they used to collect around 50 samples at the doorstep before lockdown.
Apollo Diagnostics representatives said the timings for drive-through sample collection in some parts of the city continue to be the same — 7 am to 12 noon. The footfall saw a small drop on Wednesday. But slots for their home sample collection service are completely booked.
