Kerala’s COVID-19 graph continued to flatline, with just one person newly testing positive for COVID 19 and 10 others recovering from the disease on Friday.
Of 395 cases of COVID-19 reported in Kerala so far, just 138 are now under treatment in hospitals. Except for two, the remaining 255 have completely recovered.
The lone case reported on Friday is from Kozhikode, who had apparently contracted the disease through contact with another imported case of infection.
The number of persons under surveillance in the State is 78,980, of whom 526 are isolated in hospitals and the remaining 78,454 in home quarantine. The State has so far tested samples from 18,029 persons for COVID-19, of which, 17,279 have yielded a negative result.
Public health experts point out that unlike other States, surveillance and tracking for COVID-19 has been an easier task for the State as almost 70% of its reported cases had a history of foreign travel
“Our focus is now on managing the post-lockdown period, when we expect an influx of lakhs of Malayalis into the State, all of whom will have to complete a quarantine period in government facilities, before they can be allowed home. We are prepared, but the challenge would be huge,” a senior health official said.
Directive to private labs
Meanwhile, the government has issued orders allowing private sector laboratories to conduct COVID-19 antibody testing (IgG and IgM) and framing guidelines regarding the selection of labs, antibody test kits to be used, selection criteria of the testing population, timing of the tests, sample collection and declaration of results.
NABL-accredited labs will be given permission for COVID-19 testing using body fluids. Only labs with Indian Council Medical Research’s accreditation will be allowed to do antibody testing for COVID-19.
