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Thiruvananthapuram, May 2
The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) praised Kerala’s containment strategy and strong public health system on Saturday and said it “will continue to refer to the Kerala model” for containment testing and strategies.
Dr. Raman R Gangakhedkar, chief of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at ICMR, said that India has developed a strong COVID-19 testing regimen in the past three months.
He was answering questions from mediators in an online interaction, which was broadcast live on Facebook by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Kerala, here.
Kerala offers one of the best containment strategies and is unparalleled. Then we will continue to refer to the Kerala Model when it comes to testing and containment strategies, ”said Gangakhedkar.
He said the country was now in a position to increase testing to up to 1.25 lakh per day in the government sector.
“We have expanded the testing criteria as much as we could. After starting from scratch three months ago, the last test we did was 72,000 today. This is a significantly high number. We are in a position to increase the tests to 1.25 lakh per day, “he added.
The interaction was an initiative of the state Department of Health to explain the technical aspects of the widely debated COVID-19 tests.
A high-level state team led by Health Minister KK Shailaja, Health Secretary Rajan Khobragade, Dr. B Ekbal, who heads the expert panel that advises the government on coronavirus prevention and the state director of the National Health Mission, Dr. Rathan U Kelkar among others participated
When asked about the results of certain false negative or positive tests, Ekbal said such results were “rare cases” of human error.
“We have conducted more than 35,000 tests in Kerala. Only two or three went wrong. That kind of average exists even in missions that are less pressing, ”he said.
Health Secretary Khobragade said the tests were carried out according to a certain protocol.
“Any minimal variation in the process involving swab collection, its transport, and the way it is received in the laboratory can also affect the test,” he said, explaining how efficiently the government facilitates the flow of communication to the patient about the result of the proof. for COVID-19.
Kerala reported two positive coronavirus cases on Saturday bringing the total number of cases in the state to 499.
The state has so far cured 400 patients but lost three.
There are 96 people under treatment in Kerala, according to the latest medical report. – PTI
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