Karnataka scales up COVID-19 tests 5 times to 1,500 per day
In the biggest jump in a day, Karnataka reported 36new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the total to 315 in theState, where the death toll stands at 13.
Speaking to P T I on Friday, Medical EducationMinister Sudhakar K, who is in-charge of all matters relatedto COVID-19, said those are not new cases in the sense theyare related to primary and secondary contacts (who have beenquarantined) of those who have already tested positive.
He said 200-300 real time reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction (real time RT-PCR) tests, one of themost accurate laboratory methods for detecting, tracking, andstudying the coronavirus, were used to be conducted a day inthe State.
The number has now been increased five times, to 1,500such tests per day, the Minister said, adding, it would befurther scaled up substantially once rapid test kits aredelivered from China in a day or two.
A medical professional himself, Sudhakar said thepatients who lost their lives had co-morbidities, in additionto being COVID-19 positive, adding, they sought medicaltreatment only after their symptoms aggravated and theirhealth condition worsened considerably.
He said he has convened a meeting of specialists todiscuss in detail the pattern of treatment of COVID-19patients, adding, he has told doctors to adopt a little moreaggressive treatment protocol without waiting for symptoms toaggravate.
"Major reason for deaths, apart from co-morbiditiesand other things, is that the patients intentionally coming in(for treatment) at the last stage," Sudhakar said.
"When they knew they have fever, sore throat anddifficulty in breathing, they should have come quickly and gettest done and admitted; things would have dramaticallychanged. I have seen all these patients. They (some of them)have gone to some quacks initially. Had they come in the firstweek itself (once they had symptoms), 100 per cent I will tellyou mortality would not have happened," he said.
Sudhakar said people should be a little more sensitiveand responsible in the sense they have to report to the healthsystem the moment they have cold, cough or any medical issueif they have contacted COVID-19 positive patient.
"We are doing on our own to identify, trace and track(COVID-19 cases) but (some of) those people try to hide fromus. My earnest appeal to them is 'come and report to thehealth system'; they will be saving themselves," the Ministersaid.