In a revised testing strategy for COVID19, all patients of influenza like illness in a hospital to be now tested for SARS-CoV2
The Indian Council of Medical Research has now mandated that all patients of influenza like illness in a hospital should be tested for the Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) regardless of travel or contact history.This is in addition to an existing directive to test all cases of severe acute respiratory illness (SARI). This comes even as the official position remains that there is no community transmission in the country.
According to the World Health Organisation, community transmission “is evidenced by the inability to relate confirmed cases through chains of transmission for a large number of cases, or by increasing positive tests through sentinel samples (routine systematic testing of respiratory samples from established laboratories).” This is a matter of worry because it means that the system has lost track of the virus and the disease can now be contracted by just about anybody.
Testing has been one of the concerns in India’s management of the Novel coronavirus Disease (COVID2019). Many experts have said that India’s testing strategy is too restrictive
The latest testing strategy revision lays down that the following people should be tested.
- All symptomatic (ILI symptoms) individuals with history of international travel in the last 14 days.
- All symptomatic (ILI symptoms) contacts of laboratory confirmed cases.
- All symptomatic (ILI symptoms) health care workers / frontline workers involved incontainment and mitigation of COVID19.
- All patients of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI).
- Asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case to be tested oncebetween day 5 and day 10 of coming into contact.
- All symptomatic ILI within hotspots/containment zones.
- All hospitalised patients who develop ILI symptoms.
- All symptomatic ILI among returnees and migrants within 7 days of illness.
The latest version of the testing strategy document (version 5) also lays down 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.
Testing has been one of the concerns in India’s management of the Novel coronavirus Disease (COVID2019). Many experts have for long held that India’s testing strategy is too restrictive and could result in the country missing out on many cases, especially at a time when it is just opening up after a long and crippling lockdown.
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