In a warning tone, the panel of medical experts has advised the Tamil Nadu state government to ramp up the COVID-19 testing and to accelerate its pace to trace the infections and the carriers at the early stage as more testing and treatment would be the possible way to contain the spread in the absence of drug and vaccine to treat the pandemic. 

The expert committee has been installed to advise the government on enhancing the measures against the spread. Consisting of the infectious diseases experts, public health experts, and epidemiologists, the committee has met with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami on Tuesday while the state is at the final week of the current lockdown spell which ends at May 31st. 

According to the reports, the committee has stressed the government to increase the testing, failing which the state could witness the uncontrollable and rampant spread of the pandemic. The advice has come amid the existing fluctuations in the number of testing. The committee has warned that Chennai would possibly see surging cases and if the paced up testing is not in place, the city would record 2 lakh cases by the end of June with at least 1,400 fatalities. 

The committee has said to the Chief Minister that the surge in cases in Chennai for the past few days show the abnormal and aberrant state as the result of the decrease in COVID-19 testing. According to health experts, at least 20 lakh people in Chennai are staying at a high risk since they are residing in the red zones and at least five percent of these 20 lakh people would have been affected by the virus already and they have been asymptomatic which would further escalate the risk of more spread and infections. 

The committee has instructed the government to test all people in the containment areas failing which the spread will get doubled than predicted. They further advised the government that the steady pace and aggressive testing, isolation, and effective treatments are the only antidotes to curb the spread in the state and the authorities should surveil every ward and conduct aggressive testing as it would lead to identifying more cases.

While the government claims that it has been doing the highest number of tests than any other state in India, the testing of samples per day has been declining. On Tuesday, the state has tested 10,289 samples while the number stood at 11,428 on Monday and these warnings from the committee have come when the government has been aiming to pull the state out of the lockdown gradually. As the fourth extension of the lockdown comes to an end on May 31st, the government is ought to decide the road ahead by taking these warnings into strong considerations. 

As of Tuesday, the state has tested 4,31,739 samples- the highest count in the country and the committee has signaled that it needs to get higher. Tamil Nadu Health Minister Vijayabaskar revealed that 88% of cases in the state were asymptomatic while the rest 12% had shown the symptoms for the virus. Currently, Chennai has 11,640 cases accounting for two-thirds of the total affected cases in the state. According to the reports, the expert committee would meet the Chief Minister again on May 30 to discuss the lockdown extension. Chennai's Royapuram has the most number of cases in the city with more than 2,100 cases.

Also read: Lockdown 5.0 in Tamil Nadu? CM EPS to decide after meeting the panel!