The number of tests conducted in Madurai would continue to be in the range of 4,000 until there is a dip in cases and stabilisation in the positivity rate, said Collector T. G. Vinay.
The district administration has been collecting more than 4,000 samples every day since July 13. It touched 5,133 samples on July 15, he said on Sunday. Earlier, it was testing around 3,000 samples.
“There is no hard and fast rule regarding the number of tests to be conducted. We ramped up infrastructure to test 1,000 more samples particularly from fever clinics to pro-actively identify cases,” he said.
The district’s positivity rate has come from 18% in the first week of July to 7.4% between July 10 and July 18. “We can see a difference in the positivity rate because we are identifying probable positives in advance. Based on severity, we are ensuring quick containment and treatment. Contact tracing is effective too,” he said.
A senior official of the Health department said they are classifying cases based on whether they are within or outside the containment zone.
“Identification of cases has become easier now as fever clinics are conducting more tests. That is how most of our positive cases are recognised and contained,” he said.
Collector said that cases would be identified in future based on field realities. Now, 2,200 samples are being tested at the Government Rajaji Hospital and the rest are sent to labs in Chennai.
The GRH has four RT-PCR machines and one RNA extractor machine. With better testing infrastructure, 2,800 to 3,000 tests could be conducted this week. ‘Another RNA extractor machine is expected next week. It will help to conduct 3,800 tests within the district, he added.
