Daily 1 Lakh COVID-19 Tests Soon; Infection Moving Towards Its Peak In Odisha, Says ILS Director

Bhubaneswar: Odisha has set a target to conduct 1 lakh COVID-19 tests a day.

“The daily tests will be raised to 50,000 a day by August 20. The number of antigen tests will also be increased significantly,” informed Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) Director, Ajay Parida.

“The infection has moved towards its peak in the state and it is expected that the cases will drop subsequently. Antigen kits have reached all CHCs and PHCs and all suspected cases are being tested,” he said.

Parida further said that contact tracing will be emphasized for early isolation of the COVID-19 infected persons.

The COVID-19 tally in Odisha has crossed 50,000-mark, touching 50672 on Wednesday.

Odisha had conducted a record 32,053 on Tuesday (August 11). By August 10, the state had managed to ramp up the testing to 19,083 while it was 16,093 on August 9 and 17,444 on August 8. Odisha, however, is much behind Assam and Bihar, where around 58,000 and 60,000 tests are being conducted daily.

Also Read: Record 32053 Tests & 1876 New Cases In Odisha, COVID-19 Tally Zooms Past 50K

On July 24, the Union government had advised nine states, including Odisha, to urgently ramp up COVID-19 testing, strictly implement containment plan, augment health infrastructure and ensure effective clinical management.

To increase the number of COVID-19 testing in Odisha, the state government on August 2 issued guidelines for all private hospitals, nursing homes and laboratories, intending to start testing by Rapid Antigen and RT PCR method.