Asymptomatic can be tested on demand

Aditi Tandon

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, Sept 4

With growing caseload and evidence of asymptomatic people carrying the disease, the government today approved testing on demand, expanding India’s Covid testing protocol to include the asymptomatic in defined settings.

The authorities issued an advisory allowing testing for anyone who wishes so and mandating a negative Covid-19 test at entry point for individuals undertaking travel to countries and Indian states. “States can work out simplified modalities for the same,” the advisory said.

In hospital settings, testing would need to be done not just on patients of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection, but also asymptomatic high-risk patients who are hospitalised — immunocompromised individuals, those with a malignant disease, transplant patients, patients with chronic co-morbidities and the elderly over 65 years — along with asymptomatic patients undergoing surgical or non-surgical invasive procedures.

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New rules

– In containment zones, asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of lab- confirmed case to be tested once between day 5 and day 10 of coming into contact

-All asymptomatic high-risk individuals, elderly over 65 and those with co-morbidities, will have to be tested

– In non containment zones, besides the symptomatic, the ICMR-led task force has recommended testing of all asymptomatic high-risk contacts