Tamil Nadu’s Journey from being the Lowest to Highest COVID19 Testing Southern State!

In the initial days of the coronavirus outbreak, Tamil Nadu was criticised for not testing enough. The state has been raising its rate of testing since then. As of Last week, the state tested 40,876 samples belonging to 35,741 people. This is the highest among the southern states in terms of total tests taken. Although, in terms of test per million, Kerala continues to lead. 

The intensification of testing could be understood by looking at testing data that shows that within two days, TN has tested 11,203 samples. A week earlier, TN had only tested 10,655 in total. There has been a four- fold increase in terms of testing. 

The gradual increase in both govt. and private testing labs is also noteworthy. 

Tamilnadu witnessed rise in number of COVID- 19 cases due to a single- source event. The infections were traced to the Tablighi Jamaat event and extensive testing of the Jamaat attendees and their families, was undertaken.

The increase in testing also led to increase in number of positive cases. As per report from The News Minute, the positive rate from samples collected stood at 12.38%. This figure is higher than the national average of 4.09% of positive rate from samples on April 6th. 

The number of positive cases and positive rate from testing has started decreasing in the last few days. The decline in rate of positive samples stood at 3.61% on April 19. However, the national average rate of positive samples stood at 4.48% on the same day. This is indicative of the fact that Tamil Nadu has been successful in decreasing the number of positive cases and controlling the spread of the virus. 

According to The News Minute “The fall in the rate of positive samples can perhaps be attributed to the expansion of the testing criteria.”

Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar had told the media on April 18 that the state has expanded its testing criteria and is now testing everyone with influenza-like illness (ILI) and those with respiratory problems. 

They’ve been acting as per the testing strategy recommended by Indian Council of Medical Research for conducting testing in coronavirus hotspots or clusters.