Tamil Nadu surpasses 1 crore RT-PCR tests; COVID-19 recovery rate above 95%

Chennai: Tamil Nadu has surpassed 1 crore RT-PCR tests (1,00,29,222) for the COVID-19, with 73,012 samples tested over the 24 hours between Saturday and Sunday. The pride moment comes nearly nine months after the state started testing samples for the pandemic. The state stands second highest in the number of tests, following Uttar Pradesh, where rapid antigen tests are said to have been used.

As per the latest figures mentioned in the state government bulletin, fresh cases are on the decline with 6,94,880 persons having been discharged out of a total of 7,27,026 who were infected. 

When testing for the COVID-19 was in its nascent stage, samples were only tested at the King’s Institute in Chennai and prior to that, the samples had to be sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune. 

For perspective, Tamil Nadu had barely performed a total of 3000 tests as of April 1st. However, in the following months testing was immensely ramped up, thus enabling the state to reach the 1 million mark by end of June. 

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In terms of COVID-19 testing facilities, from merely 17 labs at the start of April, there are currently 203 labs operational, this comprises 137 private and 66 government facilities. Dr Radhakrishnan, IAS, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary said that though the testing was slow at the start, the state eventually scaled up rapidly. 

“Initially it took a little time to get ICMR approvals for new labs, but we were keen on increasing both government and private labs. It was basically a focussed strategy to have a testing center every 30kms in bigger areas. Based on what our Chief Minister had discussed with health experts, we have been strictly going with RT-PCR(most-reliable) tests only and ramping up the numbers," he earlier told Zee Media.

Regarding the strategy for the times ahead, he said that the focus would be on aggressive testing, contact tracing and testing as much as 10 times the number of positive cases in districts. He also added that in recent times, testing was being carried out at marketplaces and streets using mobile vans, in addition to the standard fever camps and hospitals.

According to senior official handling the government testing labs, the 66 labs run by the government are handling over 75% of the samples being tested in the state, and that the authorities are ensuring that maximum samples are tested at government facilities.

Tamil Nadu’s test positivity rate, which has fallen to 7.28% as of October-end has also led the government to announce a slew of measures regarding further Unlocking, in order to spur economic activity and a return to normalcy. 

As per Sunday’s health bulletin data, there are 20,994 active covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu.