Kerala: Covid-19 active cases dip in Thiruvananthapuram; daily positivity rate remains high

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even while active cases show a dip and daily cases have fluctuated below 1000, the capital still grapples with alarming test positivity rates (TPR). Daily TPR in the district since October 1 has mostly been above 15 and there were days when it went up to 19.
The government sector which had single handedly clocked up to 5000 tests daily earlier seems to be catching some breath as daily samples being tested in government sector dropped as low as below 2000 and are yet to cross 5000 in October so far.
Officials point out that there were even days when number of samples tested in government sector went below 3000 and very rarely did it go above 4000. Private sector on the other hand has been steadily increasing daily test rates. Nearly half of the total samples being tested in the Capital in October so far were recorded in private sector and above 40% of tests was RT-PCR (which are considered to be more accurate) in private sector. In government sector, RT PCR tests constitute around 20% of total tests.
Even with higher number of daily cases in October compared to previous months, daily number of test samples have been surprisingly lower than that of August on some days in government sector. Dip in active and daily cases as well as rise in recovery rates are some of the encouraging indicators which say that situation in Capital has improved.
However TPR has always hovered between 17 and 19 irrespective of cumulative samples being tested in private and government sector. Till two days ago, the cumulative TPR for Trivandrum was 16%. Even on days when cases below 1000 were reported, TPR switched between 13 and 17%.
Antigen positivity rate in government sector has gone as high as 21% and sometimes even crossed 25% in October so far and the average antigen positivity rate in government sector has so far been above 18%. `` We are not even remotely close to say that things are getting better in Trivandrum. Daily cases may have come down below 1000 but so have the tests in government sector. TPR has not even gone below 10% so far when the ideal situation is having a TPR of below 5%. We cannot compromise on our vigil by any means and there has to be a way in increasing testing in the government sector. At present we are heavily reliant on testing in private sector to detect transmission rates,'' said an official associated with Covid 19 management in the district.
An overworked, tired workforce coupled with lack of resources and infrastructure are being cited as reasons for low test rates in government sector. Meanwhile 838 persons were confirmed with Covid19 on Thursday. 909 persons recovered from the disease. 9176 active cases are being treated in the district at present. 628 persons acquired infection through local contact and 13 of the infected persons are health workers. 2100 persons were brought under observation in the district on Thursday. 25,339 persons are currently under observation in houses and 166 are in institutional quarantine centres in the district.