Odisha targets 20,000 COVID-19 tests per day from August

Bhubaneswar: Amidst rise in COVID-19 cases in Odisha, the number of tests will be increased from next month to identify infected persons.

The State will conduct 20,000 COVID-19 tests per day from August, informed Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) Director Ajay Parida after attending a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy here today.

Among 20,000 tests, 8,000 will be RT-PCR tests and the remaining 12,000 will be antigen tests, he told reporters.

Currently, all the districts have more than 3000 antigen kits each. As many firms are manufacturing the kits in India, the State may not face difficulty in procuring more kits to test COVID-19.

Talking about present situation in COVID hotspot districts, Parida said that the scenario in Ganjam, Khordha, Cuttack and Jajpur is stable and the situation may improve in the month of August.

He said that the number of positive cases is on decline as compared to the tests conducted per day.

“If the State Government wants, the COVID-19 tests can be done in all private laboratories,” Parida said.

However, he denied the apprehension of community transmission in Odisha.

Worth mentioning, a total number of 14,335 samples, the highest number of COVID-19 test was conducted on Thursday in Odisha.

Also Read

Comments are closed.