Kerala community sampling finds new cases

3 of the cases picked up from community in augmented sampling drive on Sunday

Four persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the State on Tuesday.

Three of these cases were picked up from the community when the Health Department conducted an augmented sampling drive on a single day on Sunday, when 3,101 nasopharyngeal swabs collected from selected groups in the population were tested using RT-PCR (reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction ) in designated labs.

3 in Kannur

Two of the positive cases on Tuesday had travel history abroad while the other two were contacts. Three cases were located in Kannur and one in Kasaragod.

Though the Idukki district administration announced on Tuesday that they had three fresh cases of COVID-19, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, during his daily briefing, said these three cases needed reconfirmation before they could be added to the tally of positive cases. However, the patients in question had already been moved to hospital and necessary treatment was being given, he added.

Of the 485 COVID-19 cases reported in the State so far, only 123 were in hospital undergoing treatment. The number of those on the recovery list was 359.

Mr. Vijayan said apart from routine sampling, the Health Department was engaged in a sentinel survey, wherein samples were collected from health workers, guest workers, and those who had increased social interaction with the public.

Of the 875 samples tested in the sentinel survey, 801 samples had returned a negative result.

Of the 3,101 samples tested as part of the augmented sample survey, 2,682 had returned a negative result. The results of 391 samples were awaited while 25 samples had to be retested.

The State had tested 23,980 samples so far, of which 23,277 returned a negative result.

Test kits

Mr. Vijayan said even though there was a nationwide shortage of viral transport medium (VTM), the State was comfortably placed as the State Public Health Laboratory was making the VTM on its own.

For conducting PCR tests in all districts, the State had a stock of 46,000 PCR reagent kits and 15,400 RNA extraction kits.

The Kerala Medical Services Corporation was trying to procure as many PCR kits as possible.