ICMR revises testing plan as migrants carry risk of corona
In the wake of huge movement of migrants from across the States, the Indian Council of Medical Council (ICMR) on Monday revised its testing strategy mandating all patients of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) to be tested for the Covid-19 regardless of travel or contact history. Frontline workers involved in containment and mitigation of Covid-19 will also be tested.
This comes even as the Government has maintained that there is no community transmission in the country.
Testing has been one of the concerns in India’s management of the Covid-19. Many experts have said India’s testing strategy is too restrictive.
According to new strategy, no emergency procedure (including deliveries) should be delayed for the lack of test. But the sample can be sent for testing simultaneously if the person showed symptoms prescribed in the guideline.
Beside the earlier categories of individuals fitting the testing criteria, the ICMR said asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of confirmed cases be tested once between day 5 and day 10 of coming into contact.
“All hospitalised patients who develop ILI (influenza like illness) symptoms, symptomatic individuals with history of international travel in the last 14 days, symptomatic contacts of laboratory confirmed cases, symptomatic healthcare workers, patients of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), symptomatic ILI within hotspots and containment zones to be tested for the Covid-19,” the ICMR said.
ILI case is defined as one with acute respiratory infection with 38 degree Celsius fever or more than that and cough. SARI patients are those with acute respiratory infection and 38 degree Celsius fever or more and requiring hospitalisation.
The ICMR said all testing in the categories mentioned in the guideline, is recommended by real-time RT-PCR test only.
The latest version of the testing strategy document (version 5) also says that no emergency procedure (including deliveries) should be delayed for lack of test. However, sample can be sent for testing simultaneously if the patient belongs to any of the above categories.