Contacts Of Covid Patients Don't Need To Be Tested Unless Identified As High Risk: Centre

ICMR on Covid-19: The ICMR Advisory on Purposive Testing Strategy for Covid-19 said people undertaking inter-state travel do not need to get tested.

At a Covid testing centre in Thane, Maharashtra (PTI)

New Delhi: In a new advisory, the Centre on Monday said contacts of Covid-19 patients do not need to get tested unless identified as "high risk" based on age or comorbidities.

The ICMR Advisory on Purposive Testing Strategy for Covid-19 said people undertaking inter-state travel do not need to get tested. 

Asymptomatic individuals in community settings, patients who stand discharged as per home isolation guidelines and  patients discharged from a Covid-19 facility also need not be tested.

In fresh advisory for testing COVID samples, ICMR says contacts of COVID patients do not need testing unless identified as high risk based on age or comorbidities pic.twitter.com/iv3TmH0yHs

— ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2022

Who Should Get Tested For Covid-19?

"Those with cough, fever, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, breathlessness and other respiratory symptoms should be tested," the advisory said.

For hospitals, the ICMR directed that no emergency procedure, like surgeries and deliveries, should be delayed for lack of a test and patients should also not be referred to other facilities for lack of a testing facility.

READ | 5-10% Of Cases Requiring Hospitalisation, Situation May Change Rapidly, Centre Tells States

"Asymptomatic patients undergoing surgical or non-surgical invasive procedures including pregnant women in or near labour who are hospitalised for delivery should not be tested unless warranted or symptoms develop," the statement said.

The advisory said testing could be undertaken either through RT-PCR, TrueNat, CBNAAT, CRISPR, RT-LAMP, Rapid Molecular Testing Systems or through Rapid Antigen Test (RAT).

"A positive point-of-care test (home or self-test/RAT) and molecular test is to be considered confirmatory, without any repeat testing," the advisory said.

Symptomatic individuals, testing negative on home/self-test or RAT should undertake RT-PCR test, the ICMR said.

On Monday, the Centre  said only five to 10 per cent of the active Covid-19 cases required hospitalisation so far. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, however, said the situation was dynamic and might change rapidly.

India registered 1,79,723 new Covid-19 cases, the highest in around 227 days, on Monday. The Health Ministry data showed India's Omicron tally at 4,033 cases across 27 states and Union Territories.

(With PTI inputs)