A day earlier confusion was created due to misinterpretation of revised guidelines by a civic official who had said that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had made rapid RT-PCR test compulsory for all the international passengers landing at the Mumbai airport, sources said.
An expert from the ICMR's National Institute of Virology addresses concerns about hantavirus cases detected on a cruise ship, stating there is no immediate public health threat to India and that the cases appear isolated.
While there is a shortage of testing kits, manpower and capacities, India does not have other scalable testing options.
Named after Satyajit Ray's famed detective, the Feluda test, which is priced at Rs 500 and can deliver a result in 45 minutes, is able to differentiate SARS-CoV-2 from other coronaviruses even if genetic variations between them are minute.
India head coach Ravi Shastri has tested positive for COVID-19 in the confirmatory RT-PCR test as well and will remain in isolation for at least the next 10 days, ruling him out of the team's fifth and final Test against England, starting in Manchester on Friday, September 10.
These seven countries are South Africa, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
'We urge the government to have discussions with private labs on the actual cost of running a test.'
India is ready, after battling the pandemic for two years, to travel once again.
'There are not enough RT-PCR tests and they take a long time to do in specialised centres. So the world is using RA tests for the same reason that India is using them, and with similar somewhat spuriously comforting rationale'
In a tweet, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, "7,040 people underwent rapid-antigen test at 193 centres across Delhi. Of this, 456 people have been found positive."
The ministry of civil aviation on Wednesday said only two per cent of the passengers coming from countries that are not in the 'at-risk' list will be subject to random sampling for coronavirus and such passengers will be permitted to leave the airport after giving the samples.
The same testing technique would also be used for monitoring in green zones districts which have reported no cases till now or in the last 21 days, the Union health ministry said while issuing 'Guidelines for RT-PCR based pooled sampling for migrants/returnees from abroad/green zones'.
Amid growing concerns over the detection of human metapneumovirus cases in India, health experts have emphasised the virus is not new, and advised people to stay calm and take basic precautions.
The city's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has put in place all necessary measures to implement the health ministry's latest COVID-19 guidelines on international passengers arriving in India, the private airport operator said on Wednesday.
Two Covid-19 related deaths and 20 fresh cases were reported in Karnataka, according to a Health bulletin issued on Wednesday.
Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh was hospitalised after testing positive for COVID-19 in a second RT-PCR test along with two support staff, causing fear and panic among rest of the Delhi Capitals squad in Mumbai on Monday.
After winning the Asia Cup in the UAE, the Indian team had flown to the Caribbean via Amsterdam. A support staff member, who is fine now, had tested positive during the hard quarantine upon arrival in Guyana after catching the infection in transit and it is believed the players contracted the virus from him.
Strict norms for arriving international passengers, especially from 'at-risk' countries, will come into effect from Tuesday midnight and authorities are stepping their vigil for effective surveillance amid mounting concerns over the emergence of the coronavirus variant Omicron.
The ministry said this will also ensure early detection, isolation and hospitalisation of such "false" negative cases. It has also been reiterated in the joint letter that while the RAT is being used to increase access and availability of testing in the field, RT-PCR remains the gold standard of COVID tests, the ministry said.
'Serial testing is much more valuable than a single test which reflects just a point in time.'
Two kinds of diagnostic tests are being currently used in India -- RT-PCR test and rapid antibodies test -- as per the global health norms.
The government decided to enhance surveillance and containment effort within the state by tracking and quarantining the primary and secondary contacts of the COVID-positive persons.
More RT-PCR test reports are awaited and the trend shows that the number of infected persons in the Kumbh Mela Kshetra is likely to climb to 2,000.
The new rule will come into effect from March 22.
All-rounder Krunal Pandya tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the postponement of Tuesday's second T20 International between Sri Lanka and India in Colombo.
At a meeting of the business advisory committee of Lok Sabha, which has floor leaders of all parties besides the government representatives and is chaired by the Speaker, most political parties favoured curtailment of the session, which started on September 14 and was scheduled to conclude on October 1.
All 12 passengers carried negative Polymerase Chain Reaction COVID-19 reports but they were re-tested in line with the laid down COVID-19 safety protocols in Pakistan.
The bouquet of Covid-19 tests that most diagnostic labs are offering include antibody tests (blood tests), rapid antigen tests (point of care tests that detect the presence of an antigen from a nasal or throat swab in case of SARS-CoV-2), and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests.
Thackeray directed officials to ensure that people follow health norms like wearing masks, and that violators be fined.
It also advised testing on demand for 'all individuals undertaking travel to countries or Indian states mandating a negative COVID-19 test at the point of entry'.
Pune's Mylab Discovery Solutions' CoviSelf, which gives results in 15 minutes, gets ICMR nod
The ICMR Advisory on Purposive Testing Strategy for COVID-19 also said individuals undertaking inter-state domestic travels do not need to get tested either.
The Centre has deputed multi-disciplinary teams to states witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir, to support them in effectively tackling the pandemic.
A 39-year-old Chandigarh resident who had returned from South Africa a few days ago tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday and his sample will now be sent to Delhi for whole genome sequencing.
The state governments and UT administrations should strictly enforce the test-track-treat protocol in all parts of the country, ensure observance of COVID-19-appropriate behaviour by everyone and, scale up the vaccination drive to cover all the target groups, the guidelines said.
In fact, despite throat pain, the team doctor allowed the player to attend the team meeting and only on July 27 morning was his RT-PCR Test done. The reports came late in the afternoon after which BCCI and SLC decided to jointly postpone the game by a day as eight of his close contacts were also tested.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday directed officials to conduct rapid antigen tests for all people arriving into the state from Maharashtra and Kerala at airports, a senior official said.
As the number of COVID cases rise in Bihar, data indicates that the state is slowing down on testing. It is also relying more on the Rapid Antigen Test than the more accurate RT-PCR test.
Results of an interim study recently published in The Lancet showed that two doses of Covaxin, also known as BBV152, had 77.8 per cent efficacy against symptomatic disease and present no serious safety concerns.
NITI Aayog member (Health) V K Paul said, "COVID-19 situation is turning from bad to worse. In last few weeks, especially in some states, it is a huge cause for worry. No state, no part of the country or district should be complacent."
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