Bengaluru: Invoking Sec. 4 of “The Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Ordinance-2020,” the State Government has said all individuals who are identified for COVID-19 test by Government should get tested compulsorily so that spread of the virus can be contained and lives can be saved.

In a press release here, Dr. Om Prakash Patil, Director, Health and Family Welfare, has said timely testing of the persons who are suspected to be infected with Coronavirus is one of the fundamental principles to avoid the spread of virus and break the chain of transmission. 

Effective and early testing helps in saving lives and bring down mortality rate. The State Government has specified the persons who need to be tested by way of circulars from time to time. It includes primary and secondary contacts of COVID positive patients, Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) patients, staff and healthcare workers engaged in Covid treatment, persons in Containment and Buffer Zones, or any person identified by the health staff to be at risk of the pandemic or suspected of COVID-19.

It has come to notice that certain individuals are refusing to get tested and thus hampering the efforts to stop the transmission of virus. Timely testing will not only help family members, co-workers of COVID positive patients, but also to reduce the casualty rate, Dr. Patil said.