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