Around 120 districts in 29 states and Union Territories across India have recorded a weekly positivity rate of 10% in the ongoing third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is driven by the Omicron variant, suggest latest government data.

The positivity rate, which represents the number of people testing positive for every 100 tests, was 10% in only two districts as on December 24. However, it increased to more than 10% in 41 districts in 17 states and Union Territories by January 6. Since then, an increasing number of districts have been reporting high positivity rate and at present, around 120 districts have a weekly positivity rate of above 10%, revealed government data.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that testing is crucial to check the spread of the virus as it helps with early detection of cases, isolation and contact tracing. ICMR said in a document mentioning the weekly positivity rate that all states must ramp up testing to the maximum possible level with the help of rapid antigen tests in the underserved areas, rural areas and places where it is not possible to carry out RT-PCR tests… (NDTV, January 12, 2022)