Kerala to have new testing strategies, says Health Minister Veena George

Kerala health minister Veena George said here on Sunday that a revised Covid-19 testing strategy is being introduced in the state in the wake of 71 per cent out of total population eligible to be vaccinated taking at least first dose of the vaccine against coronavirus.

Kerala on Sunday recorded 29,836 fresh infections which pushed the total infection count in the state to 40,07,408.

“Guidelines have also been issued based on the vaccination status in the districts. More people will be screened to know the exact extent of the spread of the disease in the community. The COVID spread will be assessed in all the districts based on sentinel and random samples. All the districts would take random samples to find out any new clusters of COVID outbreaks,” she said.

The minister said that in districts where the first dose of the vaccine has been given above 80 per cent, RTPCR is recommended for individuals with any symptoms like mild sore throat, cough, and diarrhea.

“Antigen testing will be conducted at this location as part of Sentinel Surveillance. This test is performed on people with high social contact such as shops, malls, offices, institutions, and transit sites. Antigen will also be sufficient for a random test to assess the disease status in the district. The old system will continue in local government areas where the first dose of the vaccine is given below 80 per cent,” said Veena George.

Minister directed that the collected samples should be sent to the labs without delay and the positive and negative results should be uploaded as soon as possible.

“Strict action will be taken against the labs which do against this. District Health Department Officers will check the quality of Antigen and RTPCR test kits,” she added.