THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a bid to identify the maximum number of people infected with Covid and new clusters, the health department has decided to conduct sentinel and random sample testing.
This is a departure from the passive testing method, which mostly relies on testing symptomatic people who approach hospitals, those who are included in the primary contact list of infected persons or people coming from clusters.
Sentinel surveillance involves testing people across the community, including those without any symptoms.
The department has revised the guidelines based on the vaccination coverage in each district, said Health Minister Veena George.
New methods will be followed if the district has given at least one dose to 80 per cent of the population with vaccines.
Antigen tests will be conducted for both sentinel and random testing.
The samples for sentinel testing will be taken among people with high exposure, such as those working in shops, malls, offices, institutions and transit sites.
RT-PCR tests will be conducted on people showing symptoms such as slight throat pain, cough and loose motion to rule out false negatives.
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According to the minister, local bodies with 80 per cent coverage with the first dose can also use a similar method.
The guidelines said that people who have taken both doses and those who tested positive within two months can be excluded from random testing.
The minister directed the officials to send the samples collected to the labs and upload the test results without delay. She also warned labs against delaying test results.
The health department officials will also check the quality of test kits used by labs, she said.
With utmost caution
The samples for sentinel testing will be taken from people with high exposure, such as those working in
shops, malls, offices, institutions and transit sites.
RT-PCR tests will be conducted on people showing symptoms such as slight throat pain, cough and diarrhoea to rule out false negatives.
People who have taken both doses and those who have tested positive within two months can be excluded from random testing.