New Delhi, April 9: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which has been tasked to contain the spread of coronavirus, on Thursday revised the strategy for testing coronavirus infection in the country. Widening the ambit of testing for coronavirus, the ICMR said all people present in the hotspots, whether connected to any COVID-19 patient or not, will be tested if they are showing symptoms of the disease for at least a week. Coronavirus Live Tracker Map.

For the last three weeks, people falling in five categories were being tested for coronavirus infection. The list included symptomatic individuals who undertook international travel in last 14 days, symptomatic contacts of laboratory confirmed cases, symptomatic healthcare workers, patients with acute respiratory illness and asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of confirmed case. Hydroxychloroquine Not Mandatory For Coronavirus Patients, Can't Recommend For Now: ICMR.

According to the revised testing strategy, individuals with fever, cough, sore throat and runny nose in hotspot areas with seven days of illness will also be tested. They will be tested using RT-PCR (Corona Confirmatory Tests) after seven days of illness. Several states have identified hotspots where all movement of people will be stopped. All shops and establishments, fruit/vegetable markets or vendors, hawkers, etc, will remain shut.

The number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in India has jumped to 5865 after an increase of 591 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Thursday. The death toll due to coronavirus has climbed to 169 with 20 more deaths in the last 24 hours, according to data furnished by the ministry till 5 pm on Thursday.

Out of 5865 coronavirus cases, 5218 are still active. At least 477 patients have been treated successfully so far. One patient had migrated. The ICMR has maintained that India has still not entered the third stage, which is community transmission, of the coronavirus outbreak.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 09, 2020 09:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).