ICMR Testing Random Samples For COVID-19

Since March 15, the Indian Council of Medical Research has begun testing for a random sample of people who display flu-like symptoms but don’t have any history of travel to outbreak zones to determine whether community transmission is taking place.

Each of the 51 designated labs are studying 10 samples each week. Before this, the ICMR had picked up 20 samples and tested them at 13 labs to check for community transmission between February 15 and 29.

ICMR spoke to Economics Times, where they stated that their experts aren’t convinced about following South Korea’s strategy, which has reported more recoveries from Covid-19 than new infections through aggressive testing without any lockdowns. Indian experts said they will revise the testing protocol depending on the situation.

The ICMR is conducting a press conference on March 17, 2020.