The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on Saturday, issued a revised strategy of testing for COVID-19 infection.

According to the revised advisory, all asymptomatic individuals who have undertaken international travel in the last 14 days, should stay in home quarantine for at least 14 days. They should be tested only if they become symptomatic (fever, cough, difficulty in breathing). Besides, all family members living with a confirmed case should be home quarantined.

The revised strategy further stated that all symptomatic contacts of laboratory confirmed cases will be tested, all symptomatic health care workers will also be tested. All hospitalised patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (fever and cough and/or shortness of breath) will also be tested for novel coronavirus.

The revised strategy of testing for COVID-19 was issued following the guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The new policy, released late on Friday night, said asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of an infected person should be tested between the fifth day and 14th day of coming into contact with the patient.

Direct and high-risk contact include those who live in the same household with a confirmed case and healthcare workers who examined a confirmed case without adequate protection as per WHO recommendations.

All symptomatic health care workers, all symptomatic contacts of those whose laboratory tests — even the preliminary ones at the state-level — have been positive for the Sars-Cov-2 (the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease) have to get tested.

The testing strategy has been reviewed by the national task force constituted by ICMR.

Meanwhile, ICMR director-general Balram Bhargava has said that there is no evidence of community transmission of the coronavirus infection in India as all samples collected randomly to check the spread of the COVID-19 disease have tested negative.

However, with the number of cases doubling in the past few days, concerns remain.

According to the ICMR, the number of confirmed cases stand at 271 with four fatalities.

Currently, India has witnessed cases of COVID-19 mostly related to travel and local transmission from imported cases to their immediate contacts. Community transmission of the disease has not been documented till now. Once community transmission is documented, the above testing strategy will undergo changes to evolve into stage appropriate testing strategy.