COVID-19 testing is to be stepped up in the Nilgiris with intensive fever camps being planned in each village and settlement.
Inaugurating two mobile dispensaries on Tuesday, Collector J. Innocent Divya said Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram teams and Mobile Medical Units would conduct the camps in which COVID-19 tests would be done to people exhibiting any of the symptoms such as cold, fever or sore throat.
The first few cases recorded in the district were primarily centred in the major towns. But the infections were now more prominent in the villages surrounding Udhagamandalam. It was hoped that the screening camps would lead to more detection of cases, she said.
The Collector said 28,000 COVID-19 samples had been tested in the district so far, with 1.7 per cent positivity rate. The Health Department was already conducting around 20 camps every day screening nearly 1,000 people.
Following complaints from patients about lack of basic amenities in the COVID-19 care facilities set up in private schools, the Collector said she had designated revenue officials to make appropriate arrangements.
