Coronavirus Outbreak: India Begins Surveillance Testing Today

India has begun surveillance testing on Tuesday for COVID-19 in select districts to monitor community transmission, media networks reported on Tuesday. The target groups in chosen districts will be both high and low risk groups.

Surveillance testing for COVID-19 is being undertaken to monitor the prevailing trend of infection down at the district level. This will give the authorities a clear picture of the pandemic at the ground level to formulate a strategy for the way forward.

What Is Surveillance Testing?

The underlying objective of surveillance testing is to monitor the current trend of the pandemic. It also helps the authorities to use the data to determine the effectiveness of the strategies being implemented.

Surveillance testing will show whether the COVID-19 pandemic is moving into new areas and whether the curve is going up or flattening in select areas.

Surveillance testing does not mean that everyone in a community gets tested. Only the right samples of the population are selected in a way that allow the authorities to arrive at accurate conclusions.

Surveillance testing also helps to define the area of the epidemic and helps strengthen supporting clinical care. It ensures that the more vulnerable segments in an area can be attended to in a focused manner.

70,000 and counting

The total number of coronavirus cases in the country has now crossed the 70,000 mark. It stands at 70,756 with 2293 deaths having been reported. There are 46,008 active cases across the country currently and 22,454 recoveries have been reported.