HAVERI: With Covid-19 cases increasing among students and the Omicron variant being a new threat, the state government has set a fresh target to conduct RT-PCR tests in seven districts, including BBMP limits.
The government has ordered to increase the number of RT-PCR tests by 20,000 - to 80,000 from the existing 60,000. In view of cluster cases reported in some districts in the state, it is critical to augment and strengthen Covid-19 surveillance.
T K Anil Kumar, principal secretary, department of health and family welfare, has ordered increasing the number of tests in high-intensity districts. As per the revised target, 5,000 more tests must be conducted in BBMP limits. The remaining 15,000 tests are for border and high-risk districts like Belagavi, Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad, Hassan, Kalaburagi, Mysuru, and Udupi. But there are no variations in other districts, including Haveri, regarding RT-PCR tests.
He has also directed collection of 50% of samples from these district headquarters, and the rest from rural areas. They should also ensure that 10% of the samples are taken from children. At least 5% of schoolchildren should be tested every week to assess their safety in campus.
"All symptomatic cases should be first tested by Rapid Antigen Test (RAT), and if found negative, should undergo RT-PCR test as per ICMR protocol. The proportion of RAT could be up to 30% of the total testings. Considering the current positivity rate, which is about 0.3%, the samples may be pooled at 1.5% in testing laboratories," according to the order.
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