Encourage testing at home,fever, bodyache to be tested for Covid

The Union health ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research on Friday wrote to all states and Union territories asking them to ramp up testing as RT-PCR results may take time due to huge pressure. Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written to states and UTs to increase rapid antigen tests (RAT) as Covid cases across the country go north. The  letter emphasised that in the current upsurge, "if any individual presenting with fever with/without cough, headache, sore throat, breathlessness, bodyache, recent loss of taste or smell, fatigue and diarrhea should be considered as suspect case of Covid-19 unless proven otherwise by confirmation of another etiology".

The government mentioned that all such individuals must be tested. The Centre also urged the states to increase RAT testing as RT-PCR testing leads to delays in confirming diagnosis due to its turnaround time of about 5-8 hours. The letter also mentioned that self-testing should also be encouraged for symptomatic individuals.The new variant, which has brought back worldwide curbs, is said to be "highly infectious" - a majority of cases, however, have been reported to be mild. "Use of self-tests and home tests may be encouraged for symptomatic individuals. Seven such home testing kits have been approved so far," it further read.