Maharashtra, on Thursday, has effectively accomplished more than 10 lakh COVID-19 tests and has recorded the highest single day testing, that is, 27,953 tests in a day. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray tweeted, “Maharashtra has conducted over 10 lakh COVID-19 tests in the state (10,23,296). As we chase the virus, we will continue to trace, test and treat.”
Minister of Public Health Rajesh Tope said the number of daily tests have steadily increased from March with the rise in laboratories from two to 108 in the state. “The government has implemented tracing, tracking, testing and treatment models to detect patients and, thereby, contain the spread of the virus in the state,” he noted.
Leading endocrinologist, diabetologist and medical researcher Dr Shashank Joshi said, “State crossing the 10 lakh mark in COVID-19 tests is welcome and will go a long way to dent the curve in Maharashtra. In a pandemic, test, test and test is key to contain the virus. Frequent testing, tracing, quarantine, care and treatment play an important role,” he noted.
The daily reports released by the Medical Education and Drugs Department show that in the middle of March, 794 tests were conducted, of which 717 were negative and 39 were positive. By mid-April, the state had conducted 52,000 tests, of which 48,198 were negative and 2916 were positive.
Further, in mid-May, out of 2,50,436 laboratory samples, 2,21,336 were negative and 29,100 were positive for COVID-19. By mid-June, total 97 laboratories were functioning for COVID-19 diagnosis comprising 55 government and 42 private. Of 6,69,994 laboratory samples, 1,10,774 were positive.
On the other hand, medical nutrition therapy and public health researcher Dr Subhasree Ray observed that testing is incremental in combating the virus as the data suggests. Adequate tests can bring out possible infections, identify possible contacts and help in tracing them. “In case of low testing, the infection is hidden and spread in the community slowly. Most of the states or countries who adopted testing as their most important public health strategy, could control the pandemic successfully. Today, Maharashtra crossing 10 lakh plus mark testing for COVID-19 is phenomenal. Country wide increase in cases portrays the importance of more testing and Maharashtra is leading on that front,” she opined.
