Although Karnataka has moved to the 11th position from third in terms of number of identified positive cases, health experts and doctors say the State Health Department now has a mammoth task of testing all secondary contacts of positive patients as well as those with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI).
With the lockdown to be extended for two more weeks, doctors said the Health Department has to now step up testing and this is the only way to control the infection. The State government had two days ago told the High Court of Karnataka that health infrastructure for COVID-19 is being prepared by projecting that there will be 10,000 positive cases in the State by the end of April.
The State’s COVID-19 task force has also recommended that the nearly 7,070 secondary contacts identified in the State have to be tested in the next two weeks. Sources in the task force said this is a crucial “to-do” task. Besides, the government should also procure more PPE kits, masks and other material to deal with the situation.
“The Centre recently asked the States not to procure these material directly and all supplies would be made by the Centre. It is not correct to centralise procurement as it would virtually paralyse and suffocate the treatment strategy and preparedness. It will also cause undue delay,” said a member of the task force. “While the Centre is not able to meet the requirement of Centrally-funded institutions such as AIIMS, how can we expect that the requirement of all States will be met without delay? The States should be allowed to procure, and supplies from the Centre are welcome,” said the member.
Jawaid Akhtar, Additional Chief Secretary (Health and Family Welfare), told The Hindu that based on the task force’s recommendation, all 7,070 secondary contacts apart from 2,175 primary contacts would be tested from now on.
Clarifying that the numbers submitted before the court were purely “projections” and should not be misinterpreted, the official said: “We have taken into account the worst-possible scenario. We are preparing keeping this in mind.” On the State’s facilities, he said: “As of now, we have 11,036 isolation beds, 1,685 ICU beds, and 784 ventilators.” He said testing in the State is done as per Indian Council of Medical Research and Government of India protocols. “Although the Centre has not made testing of all primary contacts compulsory, Karnataka has been testing all primary contacts and Deputy Commissioners have been directed to test secondary contacts too,” he said.
Apart from the one lakh rapid test strips that are likely to arrive on April 13, the State had placed an order for 10,000 RNA test kits from Pune. “While 1,500 of these have arrived, we will get the remaining by Tuesday. With this, we will be able to test primary and secondary contacts,” he said.
