Odisha To Ramp Up COVID-19 Testing From July; Sero Survey In Puri From Tomorrow

Bhubaneswar: In view of the spurt in COVID-19 cases, Odisha government is now planning to ramp up testing by setting up additional labs in different parts of the State. Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) director, Ajay Parida on Friday informed that additional testing labs will be set up in five districts —Angul, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Kalahandi and Puri.

At a high-level meeting held yesterday, it has also been decided to increase the number of COVID-19 sample testing from July, informed Parida.

“As the State government has decided to conduct door-to-door survey and collect samples, four major labs at SCB, RMRC, ILS and International Centre for Foot And Mouth Disease have been directed to increase daily COVID-19 testing capacity,” said Parida.

#BREAKING: #Covid19 tally crosses 6000-mark in #Odisha after the State reports 218 new cases in last 24 hours.

198 cases reported from quarantine centres while 20 are local cases.

- State I&PR Dept pic.twitter.com/ME5dgSgoU0

— OTV (@otvnews) June 26, 2020

All the four major labs have been given specific testing targets. At present, nearly 400 to 450 COVID-19 tests are being conducted at ILS per day and there are plans to conduct 600 to 700 tests daily. Seven other medical colleges have been given a target to conduct 150 to 200 tests per day.

Health department officials informed that serological survey for Covid-19 with rapid antibody test will be carried out in Odisha. The serological survey will be conducted in Puri from tomorrow and will be extended to other districts including Gajapati, Ganjam and several parts of Badamba-Narasinghpur of Cuttack district and Bhubaneswar in July.

Serological survey & #COVID19 rapid antibody tests in #Odisha

Serological survey with rapid antibody tests to begin from Saturday in Puri. It will be done in Ganjam, Gajapati, Bhubaneswar, Baramba-Narasinghpur areas in the first week of July: Odisha Health authorities

— OTV (@otvnews) June 25, 2020

“ICMR has approved indigenously-developed antibody kits and Odisha government has already placed requisition before the government of India for procurement of 50,000 kits. The serological survey will help to assess the COVID-19 situation and facilitate mapping and establishing prevalence of community transmission,” Parida added.

(Edited By Bikram Keshari Jena)

Also Read: Odisha Covid-19 Tally Breaches 6000 Mark With 218 Fresh Cases