Covid-19 testing has declined, says Centre, asks states to enhance it

Flagging a decline in the number of Covid19 tests in many states and union territories the Centre has asked them to enhance testing so that an effective track of the spread of the pandemic can be kept and immediate citizencentric action can be initiatedIn a letter to states and UTs on Monday Additional Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Arti Ahuja advised them to pay attention to this aspect immediately and increase the testing in a strategic manner keeping in view the trend of case positivity in specific areasShe highlighted that Omicron which has been designated by the World Health Organization WHO as a variant of concern is currently spreading across the countryReferring to the ministrys earlier letters and the Home Ministry advisory of December 27 last year laying out the broad framework of pandemic management in the context of Omicron Ahuja said testing remains a key and crucial componentHowever it is seen from the data available on the ICMR portal that testing has declined in many states and union territories she wroteShe said in all advisories on testing issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research ICMR including the latest on January 10 the basic objective remains early detection of cases for quick isolation and careIn addition testing remains a key strategy for pandemic management as it helps in identification of new clusters and new hotspots of infection which can in turn facilitate immediate action for containment such as setting up of containment zones contact tracing quarantining isolation and followupThis can enable the state and district administrations to curb the spread of infection Also this will ensure reduction in mortality and morbidityProgression of disease to a severe category can be averted by strategic testing of those who are at high risk and more vulnerable as well as in areas where the spread is likely to be higher Ahuja saidReiterating the advisory on purposive testing strategy issued by the ICMR on January 10 she said in community settings all those who are symptomatic must be tested and all atrisk contacts of laboratory confirmed cases must also be testedThis advisory needs to be read in conjunction with the earlier guidelines and advisories of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare wherein it has been recommended that strategic and focused testing should be done of people who are vulnerable living in closed surroundings in densely populated areas in emerging new clusters and new hotspots of positive cases etc Ahuja saidIn order to ensure that an effective track of the spread of the pandemic is kept and also immediate citizencentric action is initiated it is incumbent upon all statesUTs to enhance testing she saidIndia has so far recorded 37618271 coronavirus cases and 486761 deaths due to it On Tuesday the country registered 238018 new infections with a positivity rate of 1443 per centThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever