COVID situation in Ernakulam turning serious

1,267 people test positive; over 31,000 tests to be done over the next three days

Testing for COVID-19 will be ramped up in the next two days, and people who participated in the election process will be tested, District Collector S. Suhas said on Thursday. A minimum of around 31,000 tests will be done over the next two days, and 10 mobile testing units will be deployed from Friday onwards, the Collector said. Besides those who participated in the polling process, inpatients and outpatients at hospitals, contacts of COVID-19 patients, people with influenza-like illness, people over 45 years who have not taken the vaccine, and people in containment zones and falling within clusters, will be prioritised for testing. All available resources will be deployed to identify people with the infection. The test positivity rate (TPR) has been over 14% for two days now. The TPR was at 14.2% on Wednesday and 14.36% on Thursday. The situation in the district is becoming increasingly serious, Mr. Suhas warned. Of the 214 ICU beds in the district, 104 are occupied. The occupancy is at 50% in the government sector and 48% in the private sector. Of the 126 ventilators, 48% are in use in the government sector and 20% are being used in the private sector.