Contacts from people found positive for Covid-19 do not need to be tested unless they fall into the “high risk” category, according to a new government recommendation.
“People who do not need to be tested: contacts of confirmed cases of Covid, unless they are classified as high risk due to their age or comorbidities, and people who undertake international domestic travel,” reads the ICMR released on Monday – Advice on a targeted test strategy for COVID-19.
The new strategy has generated mixed reactions. Public health expert Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya, told India Today, “At this stage of the pandemic, especially when Omicron is high transmission rates and many are asymptomatic, the usefulness of testing for asymptomatic (or even mild symptoms) is greatly reduced.
“It is not for better case management on an individual level or a major dent in reducing transmission. Therefore, the revised ICMR guideline is epidemiologically sound. It will achieve public health purposes in an efficient manner, ”said Dr. Lahariya.
Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya also said that this new recommendation, combined with the new layoffs policy, represents a paradigm shift in the public health response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, some experts disagree.
In response to the latest recommendation, Dr. Sonali Vaid, doctor and public health expert and founder of Incluve Labs, on Twitter: “It is wrong to advise all healthy contacts not to take tests. A healthy person who has been in contact with COVID can infect other people at high risk. If I’m healthy and young but living with an 80 year old diabetic, I MUST isolate and test myself after exposure to COVID!
We need to save test capacity, but we need to be clear about when tests can be skipped
In most situations of contact or symptoms, regardless of tests or test results, emphasis should be placed on isolation.
Tests should be done at the right time so as not to waste them.– DR. Sonali Vaid (@SonaliVaid) January 10, 2022
The recommendation issued by the ICMR on Monday goes further, adding that Covid-positive individuals who are “discharged” from a Covid-19 facility under the revised Discharge Policy do not need to be tested either. At the same time, patients treated in hospitals are tested no more than once a week.
Asymptomatic patients undergoing surgical / non-surgical invasive procedures should also not be tested unless justified or unless symptoms develop, the recommendation states. This notice also applies to pregnant women in labor who are hospitalized for delivery.
In addition, the government advisory states that there is no need to test individuals who undertake domestic interstate travel. This applies to some states where Covid-19 tests were mandatory upon arrival at airports. Meghalaya, for example, requires domestic travelers to pass a negative RT-PCR test.
Experts have welcomed this step by the ICMR. Speaking to India Today, Dr. Sonali Vaid: “RTPCR for interstate travel has become a scam with exorbitant prices at airports – ICMR has repeatedly advised against it pandemic, updates to ICMR guidelines have been quite delayed.”
Who should be tested?
As per government recommendation, symptomatic individuals who test negative on a home / self-test or RAT should have an RT-PCR test. The same applies to risk contacts from people who have tested positive for Covid-19.
For patients who are being treated in hospitals, the Covid-19 test is to be carried out at the discretion of the attending physician.
However, the recommendation clearly states that “no emergency procedures (including surgery and childbirth) should be delayed in the absence of a test and patients should not be referred to other facilities in the absence of a testing facility”.
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