Tests ramped up despite Dakshina Kannada reporting fewer Covid cases

MANGALURU: Though Dakshina Kannada has been recording below 50 cases of Covid-19 every day, the health department has ramped up testing.
The district, which was conducting an average of 3,500 tests per day, has increased the number of tests to more than 5,000 per day. Samples of 9,425 people were tested on January 1, and thereafter, more than 5,000 tests were conducted on all days, except on January 4.Due to the opening of nursing colleges and other institutes, the district has seen an increase in the number of tests being conducted. Nearly 100 students from the hostels of three nursing colleges in the city, had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, recently.

District health and family welfare officer Dr Ramachandra Bairy told TOI, that In addition to the regular tests conducted on those who have symptoms of Covid-19, and primary contacts of the infected, tests were also conducted on students, teachers and non-teaching staff of various institutions, especially nursing colleges, recently.
“We have not increased the number of tests. The government has directed all institutions in the district, to make all teachers and non-teaching staff undergo testing for Covid-19, compulsorily. Hence, we have insisted that all institutions in the district, follow the government guidelines. Further, the district has a large number of institutions, where students from Kerala also study. Hence, the number of tests per day has been increased considerably in the last week. In the last one week, we have conducted nearly 40,000 tests,” he said.
Meanwhile, as per the feedback from doctors, the district has been witnessing a drastic fall in Covid-19 cases, he added.
The district has recorded 732 Covid deaths as on December 17, and no fatalities were reported thereafter. In the first week of January, 233 people tested positive for the virus. The district recorded a maximum of 44 Covid-19 cases on January 5, and the minimum number was 16 on January 4.