As the Tamil Nadu government ramped up its testing capacity, experts have criticised its strategy of conducting more tests in districts with low Covid-19 cases.
The government tested 31,401 people on Sunday alone, taking the overall figures in the state to 8.92 lakh. It was the second consecutive day during which the testing of people surpassed 30,000-mark.
However, experts have questioned the government's rationale of conducting more tests in areas with fewer cases. The government conducted 12,530 tests per million in The Nilgiris as against 6,050 per million in Madurai district which has seen a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases recently.
16,195 tests per million were conducted in Theni district, where cases stood at 185 and 13,265 samples were tested per million in Kanyakumari that recorded 151 cases until Friday, June 19.
However, according to a TOI report, Health secretary J Radhakrishnan denied the charge and said that the state had scaled up testing in capital city Chennai and also in the neighbouring high-prevalence districts. He said that the government was following standard procedures while conducting the tests.
However, experts believe that the government has not been testing enough samples in Chennai and its neighbouring districts. Quoting eminent virologist Dr Jacob John, TOI reported that if tests were being conducted on people with symptoms, there would be a chance of diagnosing at least 30 per cent more Covid-19 cases. But, if it is not followed, the infection would continue to spread.
On Sunday, Tamil Nadu recorded 2,532 fresh cases taking the Covid-19 tally near 60,000. 53 new fatalities took the state's death toll to 757.
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