In 10 days, sampling rate triples

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 15

The sampling rate for Covid has more than tripled in the past 10 days in Haryana.

The test positivity rate — which is the proportion of positive cases among all tests — has come down in this period.

On April 6, the sampling rate was 75.5 per million population. It jumped to 254.1 per million population by April 15. The test positivity rate came down from 4.4 per cent to 2.6 per cent in the past 10 days.

One of the major jumps in sampling tests in Haryana came on April 6 when the cumulative number of tests jumped from 1,536 to 2,194 — with 658 in just 24 hours — taking the sampling rate to 75.5 tests per million population.

Another jump came on April 14 when the cumulative number of tests reached from 4,489 to 6,163 — with 1,674 in a day — taking the sampling rate to 212 tests per million population. On April 15, the cumulative tests crossed 7,388 which took the sampling rate to 254.1 per million population.

The cumulative number of sampling tests in Punjab reached 5,193 today which amounts to 162.3 tests per million population. So, Haryana is 1.6 times ahead of Punjab in sampling rate.

The test positivity rate in Haryana was 4.4 per cent on April 6 when there were 96 positive cases and cumulative tests had reached 2,194. It jumped to 6.1 per cent on April 7 when positive cases reached 142 and cumulative tests had reached 2,318. It dipped to 4.8 per cent on April 11 and since then, it has been on the slide. On April 15, with 193 positive cases and 7,388 tests, the test positivity rate is lowest in 10 days at 2.6 per cent.

Had it been rising, it would have been worrisome and had it been the same, it meant that infection was where it was, say experts.

At the national level, it was 4.5 per cent on April 14.

Dr Dhruv Chaudhary, nodal officer for Covid, said, “We have increased the testing capacity so we are able to test more. We have been able to trace contacts of positive cases. With rapid testing kits, we will soon start random sampling.” Besides two government labs, six private labs were added recently.”

On test positivity rate, health economist, Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Prof Aswini Nanda, said, “If test positivity rate has come down, it shows infection is not spreading. It shows the impact of the lockdown in Haryana.”

Dr Digamber Behera, senior professor of pulmonary medicine at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, said, “It is good that testing facilities and number of tests have increased.”

The state has also ordered 1.2 lakh kits for rapid testing for Covid.