Increase Covid testing by 70 per cent, States told

Central Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba held a high-level review meeting with Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries of all States to review and discuss the Covid management and response strategy.

Hyderabad: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), New Delhi has urged individual States to increase Covid testing to ensure that the positivity rate of infections drops to less than five percent.

On Friday, Central Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba held a high-level review meeting with Chief Secretaries and Health Secretaries of all States to review and discuss the Covid management and response strategy.

Gauba urged States to focus on RT-PCR tests and to increase them to at least 70 per cent and to ensure reducing waiting time for results. Other directions included use of Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) as screening tests in densely populated areas and in areas where clusters were emerging and ensuring that all RAT negatives are mandatorily subjected to RT-PCR tests.

The States must have effective isolation facilities like Covid Care Centres while individuals in home isolation must be monitored daily. States must trace and test all close contacts of those infected or 25 to 30 such close contacts for each infected person within 72 hours. States must also focus on establishing micro containment zones.