A total of 13,316 samples from 12,426 individuals have been tested as on 10 am on March 20, the Indian Council of Medical Research said on Thursday. 168 samples out of the 13,316 across India have tested positive for coronavirus.
Here’s a look at the samples tested in the five southern states:
In Kerala, where the first coronavirus case was reported, 2,550 samples have been sent for testing out of which 2,140 came as negative as of March 18. The remaining results are awaited. 2,550 samples however constitute 19% of all the samples tested in India. Kerala has 27 positive cases of coronavirus and three other cases reported in January have since then recovered.
In Karnataka, till 4 pm on March 18, a total of 1068 samples have been collected for testing, out of which 869 samples have tested negative whereas 14 have tested positive. A new case of coronavirus was reported from Kodagu on Thursday, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 15.
In Andhra Pradesh, a total of 109 samples have been tested out of which 2 have returned positive and 94 have come back negative. Results of 13 samples are awaited, as per the state health department’s statement on March 19 at 8 am.
In Telangana, 447 samples have been tested as of 4 pm on March 18. Six samples have returned positive, whereas 331 samples have come back negative. However, this does not include the seven new cases reported on Wednesday evening. The total number of cases in Telangana currently stands at 13.
In Tamil Nadu, till March 18, a total of 222 samples have been tested, out of which 2 samples have tested positive and 166 samples have tested negative. The state is awaiting results of 54 samples, as per the latest press release issued by the government.
A worrying case has, however, emerged from Tamil Nadu. The second positive case that was detected on Thursday, the 20-year-old man, has travelled from Delhi to Chennai by train and does not have a travel history to a COVID-19 affected nation. The patient had not shown any symptoms when he boarded the train on March 10 and reached on March 13. He only showed symptoms on March 16 and was admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) the next day.
This case has raised concerns whether community transmission of coronavirus has begun in the country, but the ICMR on Thursday ruled out that possibility. Speaking to DD News, ICMR DG Balram Bhargava stated that there is no evidence of community transmission of coronavirus as 826 random samples out of 1000 that were tested have turned out negative. “There is no evidence of community transmission as per these results. Further scale-up is in progress,” he said.