4 months ago
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With Karnataka intending to ramp up the daily COVID-19 tests to 5,000 from Saturday, it will require around 5 lakh testing kits for the next three months. Currently, the State has a stock of 6.55 lakh RTPCR kits, 1.35 RNA extraction kits, and 10,000 viral transport media (VTM).
Over 10 lakh RTPCR kits were procured in March-April last year and the remaining stock of 6.55 lakh has a shelf life till May. With zero stocks of Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) kits, the Health Department is expecting 30,000 RAT kits by Saturday.
Positivity rate
Despite this, Karnataka is one among the top three States that are doing the highest number of tests in the last few days. Karnataka did 2,366 tests in the last 24 hours of which 1,947 were RTPCR tests. The test positivity rate stood at 3.29% on Friday.
Health Commissioner Randeep D. said with the number of tests to be increased to 5,000 from Saturday, the cases are expected to up further.
He said that the tendering process for procuring VTM, RNA extraction, and RAT kits is under way. “We received 10,000 VTM kits on Thursday. While the tender process for procuring 2.5 lakh VTM kits has begun, we have sought the government’s permission for the purchase of 2.5 lakh VTM kits and 3.5 lakh RNA extraction kits. We will start the tender process soon after we get the approval,” he said.
A senior health official in charge of testing said tenders for RAT kits had been floated one-and-a-half months ago and 30,000 kits will arrive on Saturday. “Now, amid concerns of a possible JN.1 surge, we have sought permission to procure 1.5 lakh more RAT kits and are expediting the procurement process,” the official said.
Reluctance to get tested
After the second wave, people are generally reluctant to get tested. Due to this, the State that had procured testing kits in excess during the third wave was not able to use all of them.
The Hindu in March this year reported that the expired stock of 13,63,280 RTPCR and RNA extraction kits along with other consumables had been piled up in the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) depot affecting academic, diagnostic and research activities in the medical college.
In October last year, when some States reported newer sub-variants of Omicron such as BQ.1 and BA.2.3.20, apart from XBB, the Karnataka’s COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) had advised that the daily tests in Bengaluru, which has always been the epicentre of COVID-19 in the State, should be increased to at least 10,000.
However, the newer sub-variants did not result in an increased caseload in the State, and the tests continued to remain around 2,000. Now, the TAC has recommended that at least 1,500 of the revised target of 5,000 should be conducted in Bengaluru.
One more death
One more death was reported on Friday. A 40-year-old male diagnosed with SARI in Dakshina Kannada died on December 20, a day after he was hospitalised.
With this the total number of deaths since December 15 touched four. With 78 new cases, the total number of active cases touched 175. Of these, 13 are under treatment in hospitals and the remaining under home isolation. Of the 13, six are admitted in intensive care units.
