A policeman holds a placard on a deserted road during a one-day nationwide Janata (civil) curfew ... [+]
India has expanded COVID-19 testing to private labs; broadened the criteria for testing and asked every state to earmark at last one hospital for COVID-19 cases.
The number of cases in the country has risen to 415 with seven deaths as of 10 a.m. on Monday.
The nation observed a 14-hour curfew on Sunday, and the central government has since advised the lock down of 75 districts across the country until March 31, shutting down trains, buses and interstate services. It has recommended that only essential services like hospitals, telecom, medical services, grocery stores, banks and gas stations be operational in these 75 districts including Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai.
Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research–the government body that is overseeing COVID-19 testing–has said that the country has the capability to do 60,000 tests a week. It has also allowed private players to do testing, but has mandated that the cost of the tests should not exceed Rs. 4,500 ($60).
As of March 22, 116 government labs have been approved for testing and they charge Rs. 1,500 ($20) for an initial screening and Rs. 3,000 ($40) for an additional confirmatory test. A total of 89 labs are operational, and 27 are being readied for testing.
Private labs across three states have been allowed to do testing. These include Mumbai’s Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre–run by India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Foundation. Other private labs include Thryocare; Metropolis Healthcare and Suburban Diagnostics in Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra; Unipath Specialty laboratory limited in Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat and Neuberg Anand Reference Laboratory in Bengaluru in the state of Karnataka.
But lab tests should be done only on the recommendation of a qualified physician and as per the guidelines issued by ICMR. The research agency has also revised the testing criteria, noting that all asymptomatic individuals who have traveled overseas in the last fortnight should stay in home quarantine for 14 days. They will be tested only if they exhibit symptoms like fever, cough and difficulty in breathing. Also, all family members living with a person who has tested positive should be on home quarantine.
ICMR has said that testing can be done for persons who exhibit symptoms after being in contact with a lab-confirmed patient; all healthcare workers with symptoms and all hospitalized patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness who have fever and cough and or shortness of breath. Testing will also be extended to all asymptomatic persons who live in the same household with a patient who has been confirmed positive. Also any healthcare worker who has examined a patient who has tested positive–without using the protections recommended by the World Health Organization–can be tested.
