New Delhi, April 21: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday issued a strategy for testing asymptomatic pregnant women for coronavirus if she lives in a containment zone or district identified as a red zone. Notably, the test to detect coronavirus (COVID-19) will be conducted if the pregnant woman is in labour or likely to deliver in the next five days, said the ICMR in its strategy. Coronavirus Tracker Live.

"Pregnant women residing in clusters/containment area or in large migration gatherings/evacuees center from hotspot districts presenting in labor or likely to deliver in next 5 days should be tested even if asymptomatic," read the strategy issued by the ICMR. The development came a day after the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that 80 per cent of the COVID-19 cases are either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms. Pregnant During COVID-19 Pandemic? Here's How the Novel Coronavirus Can Affect Expectant Mothers and Their Foetuses in Womb.

"80 per cent cases are either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms as per the worldwide analysis. They can be tracked," Joint Secretary at the Health Ministry, Lav Agarwal, said on Monday. Raman Gangakhedkar, head of infectious disease and epidemiology at the ICMR insisted that 80 out of 100 people do not show symptoms and therefore chances are that they might test positive.

Gangadhar said this is the reason why people should follow the lockdown rules and maintain social distancing. "In this way, people will not come in close contact," he said. The total number of coronavirus cases in India stood at 18,985 on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health and Family welfare said. In an evening update, the Health Ministry said that out of these, 15,122 are active cases while 603 people have died.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 21, 2020 10:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).