K’taka govt wants to conduct COVID-19 tests on all 55+ with health issues

PTI, Apr 21, 2020, 1:32 PM IST

Bengaluru: If you are aged 55-plus, have co-morbid conditions and now experiencing even slightest health discomfort, its time for coronavirus screening in Karnataka as the government is keen on pushing pre-emptive measures to check its spread.

Medical Education Minister Sudhakar K, who is in charge of all matters related to COVID-19, stated on Tuesday that the government would take it seriously even if such people feel uneasiness, tiredness or slightest of discomfort.

We will do it (coronavirus test in such cases) we want to do it. We have issued guidelines for senior citizens, especially those with co-morbid conditions. Even if they have the slightest discomfort, we want to take it seriously, the Minister said.

Senior citizens (those above the age of 60) account for about seven per cent of the State’s population.

The Minister also said about 2,300 real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR) tests, one of the most accurate laboratory methods for detecting, tracking, and studying the coronavirus, are being conducted a day in the State.

The target is to ramp them up to a minimum of 10,000 a day by May 10, Sudhakar said.

Seventeen people infected with coronavirus have lost their lives in Karnataka, which has reported 415 COVID-19 positive cases, including 114 discharges.