Govt Guidelines: Only Patients, Contacts With These Symptoms Should Get Tested For Covid-19 | Asymptomatic Shouldn’t Test

Experience is the best teacher they say. And in the last two years, India has had enough experience in dealing with the tiny but mighty virus. When we couple learnings from this experience, with penetration of vaccination programs throughout the nation, it makes a good case of concluding that India is well prepared for facing the third wave.

And the top medical body in the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) also seems to think so.

ICMR issues new advisory to deal with Covid-19

Contacts of COVID-19 patients, unless identified as high-risk, don’t need to be tested, the government’s top medical body, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said today in a new advisory. Asymptomatic individuals in community settings, patients who stand discharged as per home isolation guidelines, also patients discharged from a COVID-19 facility and individuals undertaking inter-state domestic travel need not be tested, said ICMR.

At the same time, ICMR has advised people with cough, fever, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, breathlessness, and other respiratory symptoms) to get tested. International travelers arriving at Indian airports, seaports, and ports are also required to be tested.

Lack of availability of tests should not stop emergency procedures

The top medical body also said that no emergency procedure – like surgeries and deliveries – should be delayed for lack of a test. Patients should not be referred to other facilities for lack of a testing facility, it added further. This comes as a relief for citizens throughout the country.

The advisory also said that asymptomatic patients undergoing surgical/non-surgical invasive procedures including pregnant women in or near labor who are hospitalized for delivery should not be tested unless warranted or symptoms develop.

The ICMR also noted that Genome Sequencing is done for surveillance purposes and is not required to be undertaken for treatment purposes. It further said that genome sequencing is to be performed only in a subset of positive samples as per recommendations of INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Surveillance Consortium).