The Kalahandi district administration in Odisha began a door-to-door survey from Saturday after the test positivity rate (TPR) soared past 50% on Thursday. The western Odisha district had conducted 1,269 tests that day, including 361 RT-PCR tests, in which as many as 682 persons tested positive, yielding a TPR of 53.74%.
On Friday, as many as 950 tests were conducted and 361 persons found infected with the virus. The TPR worked out to 38%, which was much higher than the State’s average.
Through the positivity rate dropped significantly on Saturday, the administration decided to take no chances and began a door-to-door survey to find out the extent of prevalence of COVID-19 symptoms in the community.
In Odisha, 43,538 tests were carried out in 30 districts and Bhubaneswar on Thursday. The TPR was estimated at 14.35%.
On Friday, out of 41,017 tests conducted across the State, 6,647 were detected as positive, yielding a positivity rate of 16.20%.
During the door-to-door survey in Kalahandi, people were asked if they or any of their family members had fever-like symptoms or symptoms associated with COVID-19. The Kalahandi district administration said mobile testing vans will carry out on-spot tests in order to help decide on creation of micro-containment zones.
