New Delhi: Citing under-utilisation of COVID lab facilities, the Centre has advised states and UTs to enable all qualified medical practitioners, including private practitioners, to prescribe coronavirus test to any individual fulfilling the criteria for testing as per the ICMR guidelines which will prevent any delay.
In a letter jointly written by Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan and ICMR Director-General Dr Balram Bhargava, it was pointed out that in some states and UTs, the capacity utilization of the testing labs, particularly the ones in the private sector, is "grossly sub-optimal".
It urged them to take all possible steps to ensure full capacity utilization of all COVID-19 testing laboratories.
They also pointed out that it has been observed that some states and UTs have mandated the need for a prescription from a government doctor for making an individual eligible to undergo COVID-19 test.
"In view of the increased load on government healthcare facilities, this mandatory requirement may at times pose an impediment for an individual to get tested and lead to unnecessary delays.
"At this juncture, it is absolutely necessary to facilitate testing at the earliest by enabling all qualified medical practitioners including private practitioners to prescribe COVID test to any individual fulfilling the criteria for testing as per ICMR guidelines," they said in the letter.
ICMR has strongly recommended that laboratories should be free to test any individual in accordance to the ICMR guidelines and state authorities must not restrict an individual from getting tested, as early testing will help in containing the virus and saving lives.
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"While morbidity and mortality have been relatively low in most parts of the country, as compared to many other countries in the world, the virus has been spreading to newer areas," Sudan and Bhargava said in the letter underlining the importance of maintaining strict vigil and continuing all possible efforts to minimize the damage that can be caused by COVID-19 pandemic.
With the start of Unlock-2, the focus will continue to be on saving lives and also protecting livelihood as more and more economic activities are expected to pick up gradually, they said.
With an aim to remove all impediments in testing, Sudan and Bhargava have urged the states and UTs to take immediate steps to facilitate and ramp up testing reiterating that test-track-treat' is the key strategy for early detection and containment of the pandemic.