Barring elderly and special groups, no asymptomatic contacts to be tested

Directorate of Public Health issues testing guidelines

Barring the elderly and special groups, no asymptomatic contacts of COVID-19 patients should be tested, according to testing guidelines released by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.

As per the guidelines, anyone with Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) symptoms such as fever, cold/cough, myalgia and breathlessness should be tested using the RT-PCR method for SARS-CoV-2.

As for the contacts of RT-PCR COVID-19-positive patients, all symptomatic contacts, all contacts aged above 60, regardless of symptoms or co-morbidity status, and special groups like pregnant women, immune-compromised individuals and differently-abled persons, regardless of symptoms or co-morbidity, should be tested. All other asymptomatic contacts should not be tested.