ICMR Issues New RT-PCR Covid-19 Testing Guidelines
New guidelines for Covid-19 testing have been issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). As per the directions by ICMR, a person who has tested positive once, either by RAT or RT-PCR does not require a repeat RT-PCR test. ICMR furthermore added that Covid-19 recovered patients do not require testing at the time of hospital discharge.
ICMR is also planning to remove mandatory negative RT-PCR test reports for healthy individuals looking forward to inter-state domestic travel. The requirement for RT-PCR test in healthy individuals engaging in inter-state domestic travel may be completely removed to lessen the load on laboratories, highlighted ICMR in an official notification.
In its guidelines, ICMR has added that non-essential travel or inter-state travel by symptomatic individuals should be avoided. Furthermore, Covid-19 appropriate behavior must be followed by all asymptomatic individuals undertaking essential travel.
It must be noted that the overall test positivity rate in India has gone above 20%. On Tuesday, India reported an insignificant dip in single-day coronavirus cases as 3,57,229 new cases were registered in the past 24 hours. On May 1, the daily spike had reached the mark of over four lakh cases.
ICMR has also published Covid-19 counselling manual for patients, their family members, healthcare as well as frontline workers.
As of May 4, India has 2,506 molecular testing laboratories, including RT-PCR, TrueNat, CBNAAT, and various other platforms.
Also Read:
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Ways You Need To Take Care Of Yourself After Testing Negative For Covid-19
Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.
