While Karnataka on an average has tested 3,565 people per million population — a testing rate higher than Telangana and Kerala among southern States but lower than Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu — a district-wise analysis shows that highest testing has been reported from Bidar, followed by Chickballapur and Kalaburagi.
Data from the COVID-19 war room (as on May 27) shows that Bidar tops the list with 7,573 tests per million population, followed by Chickballapur with 7,276, and Kalaburagi with 6,901 tests. Among these, Kalaburagi has recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases.
The least number of tests have been done in Belagavi, Chitradurga and Bengaluru Rural districts. These districts have done less than 1,900 tests per million. Chamarajnagar district, which is the only district in the State so far that has not reported a single positive case, has done 2,190 tests per million as on May 27. The testing rate in 12 districts is higher than the State average.
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H.R. Mahadev, Deputy Commissioner of Bidar district, said the district began testing all people in some neighbourhoods in Bidar in the end of April, after many who returned from Tablighi Jamaat tested positive.
“Besides primary and secondary contacts, we wanted to make sure all people with co-morbidities and volunteers were not left out in the testing process. We took special permission and made sure everyone in one of the wards was tested and found the presence of the virus in that particular locality very high,” he said, adding that over the last 15 days, they have been trying to ensure atleast 1,500 samples from the district are sent for testing. “We ensured those who returned from Maharashtra were tested on a large scale,” he said.