Revising the Covid 19 testing strategy, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that testing should be made widely available to all symptomatic individuals in the country and contact tracing mechanisms for containment of infection should be further strengthened.
The ICMR said that this was to be done as test, track and treat are the only way to prevent spread of infection and save lives.
Earlier, the ICNMR had restricted testing symptomatic individuals to those in hospitals, containment zones and hotspots, contacts of a confirmed Covid-19 case, healthcare and frontline workers, and those with history of international travel.
The apex health research body in the country also said that the State Governments, Public and Private Institutions to take required steps to scale up testing for COVID-19 by deploying combination of various tests.
It also recommended rapid antigen PoC test in all containment zones, Central and State Government Medical Colleges and Government hospitals, private hospitals approved by National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare , private labs accredited by National Accreditation Board for Laboratories (NABL) and approved by ICMR as COVID-19 testing labs.
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