Covid 19: Pooled Evidence for Zero-Case Districts as Standards Are Eased for Home Isolation

According to data from the Ministry of Health, 216 districts had not reported any cases until last week. (Figurative)

WHILE the number of new coronavirus (Covid-19) new cases in the past 24 hours hit a new high at 4,213 on Monday, including 97 deaths, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare decided to conduct pooled tests in all districts , including those who have not reported any cases so far, as part of their nationwide surveillance plan.

The ministry has also revised the home insulation guidelines, specifying that “there is no need for testing after the home isolation period ends.”. It has been said that the “patient in home isolation will terminate home isolation after 17 days of symptom onset (or sampling date, for pre-symptomatic cases) and no fever for 10 days.”

The above guidelines stated that such patients will terminate isolation at home if the symptoms resolve clinically and the medical surveillance officer certifies that they are infection-free after laboratory tests.

With the total count of cases touching 67,152 (2,206 deceased, 20,916 recovered), it has already crossed the government’s projection of 65,000 cases by May 15, as shared with the states previously.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, 216 districts had not reported any cases until last week. The ministry plans to include these districts in its surveillance throughout the country, which will be carried out in 10 health centers (6 public, 4 private) in each district.

Both high-risk groups (health workers) and low-risk groups (patients and pregnant women who do not belong to the ILI Outpatient Department) will be selected.

“There is a need to establish systematic surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 infection in all districts of the country. This monitoring will be in addition to routine testing according to current testing guidelines. In addition to facility-based surveillance, ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) / NCDC (National Center for Disease Control) in collaboration with key stakeholders and state health departments is initiating a population-based sero-survey in selected districts representing case detection across the country. country, “says a document on district-level facilities-based surveillance for Covid-19 issued by the Ministry of Health.

Under the plan, 100 samples will be collected from high-risk groups and 50 each from the two low-risk population groups each week.

Throat / nasal swabs to collect for RT-PCR testing. Samples should be analyzed in a single group of 25. Results from this group of samples are for monitoring purposes only. It should not be used for the diagnosis of individual patients. In addition to nasal / throat swabs, blood samples should be collected to detect IgG antibodies for ELISA tests. In subsequent rounds, serum IgG testing of serum samples will replace RT-PCR-based testing for surveillance purposes, ”the document says.

Surveillance will be conducted in association with the state and district health administration, IDSP (Integrated Disease Surveillance Program), NCDC, ICMR institutes, community medicine departments of medical colleges, and public health institutes.

Meanwhile, in the daily briefing, the joint secretary of the Ministry of Health, Lav Agarwal, reiterated that India had not reached the stage of community transmission.

“Our policy has been to implement containment strategies more rigorously each time more cases are detected. Some groups have been found, and in some cases, in some particular places, relatively large outbreaks have also been noted. The AIIMS Director had said that if we don’t do adequate containment, the transmission rates will increase. It is important to continue the containment strategy rigorously to prevent the country from entering the community broadcast, “he said.

While 3,277 new cases and 128 deaths were reported on Sunday, the daily count was 3,320 new cases and 95 deaths on Saturday.

Agarwal also sought to allay concerns about the possibility of the spread of infections on AC trains, which will resume as of Tuesday. “You can use centralized AC, but you need to monitor the air flow. if there is any risk of aerosol-induced spread, we can also travel without air conditioning, ”said Agarwal.

He denied that there was any effort to map Covid’s risks by community. “Please spread the correct information, we will get the disease if we violate the guidelines. Covid doesn’t see religion, “he said.

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