ICMR Should Change its Guidelines for COVID-19 Testing to Increase in Number of Tests, Says Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday suggested the Union Health Ministry to consider asking Indian Council of Medical Research to bring changes in the guidelines to increase number of coronavirus test in the national capital. Jain said that the Delhi government cannot flout ICMR guidelines which states certain conditions are prerequisite for tests.
New Delhi, June 13: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday suggested the Union Health Ministry to consider asking Indian Council of Medical Research to bring changes in the guidelines to increase number of coronavirus test in the national capital. Jain said that the Delhi government cannot flout ICMR guidelines which states certain conditions are prerequisite for tests.
Speaking to the media, the Delhi Health Minister said, as quoted by news agency ANI, "If you want the number of tests conducted for #COVID19 to increase, then ask ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) to change its guidelines. We cannot flout ICMR guidelines that state certain conditions which are prerequisite for tests." Coronavirus Tally in India Crosses 3 Lakh-Mark After Country Reports Highest Single-Day Spike of 11,458 Cases, COVID-19 Death Toll Mounts to 8,884.
Here's what Satyendar Jain said:
Another Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh wrote to the Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan regarding change of ICMR guideline for testing. He said, "Need of the hour is to increase no.of testings. ICMR guideline for testing should be changed for that. I've written to Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan for the same, anyone who suspects they're infected should be allowed to go to pathology labs & get tested."
Adding more, he said, "More and more pathology labs across the country should be given license and more and more testing kits should be made available to states. It should be known that who is infected & who isn't. Otherwise we would be sitting on a ball of fire, waiting for an explosion."
Earlier, Union Health Ministry informed that the 3,08,993 people have contracted coronavirus till now. Currently, there are 1,45,779 active COVID-19 cases in the country, while 1,54,330 people have already recovered from the disease. The death toll also rose to 8,884 on Friday after 386 more people lost their lives in the past 24 hours.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 13, 2020 01:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).