COVID-19: Health Ministry to Allow Around 60 Accredited Private Labs to Conduct Tests

New Delhi: To enhance capacity for diagnosis and detection of novel coronavirus amid rising cases in the country, the Union Health Ministry has decided to allow accredited private labs to conduct tests for COVID-19, officials said on Monday.

At present only government labs are permitted to do the test and the Centre is making arrangements to nearly double its capacity to test for the respiratory ailment.

According to Health Ministry officials, around 60 accredited private laboratories are likely to be given permission to conduct the tests soon.

"We are yet to finalise the names of labs. The modalities for the same are being worked out," an official said.

Both are confirmatory tests for COVID-19 are currently being done free-of cost at government set-ups.

Raman R Gangakhedkar, head of the Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday said that the testing capacity is not an issue as per the capacity of 52 labs, India can conduct up to 10,000 tests per day at present.

"Around 600 samples are being tested per day," he said.

He further said 60,000 testing kits are available now and additional 200,000 kits have been ordered.

According to the current testing protocols, only those with history of travel to high-risk countries affected by the respiratory virus and those who came in contact with those having tested positive have been asked to be quarantined for 14 days and those who show symptoms of the infection are being tested.

The ministry has also started random testing of people, who are suffering from respiratory ailments such as influenza and pneumonia but do not have a history of travel abroad, to ascertain if there has been community transmission of coronavirus infection.

Health Ministry officials have asked people not to panic, saying no community transmission of the virus has been observed and there has only been cases of localised transmission so far.

According to a senior ICMR official, around 1,040 samples of patients admitted at various hospitals, including private facilities, due to influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory ailments have been collected and majority of them have been tested to check if the virus has infected those without a history of travelling abroad.

So far, none of the samples has tested positive for COVID-19. The final results will declared on Wednesday.

The number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 126 on Tuesday after fresh cases were reported from several states. Also the death of a patient who tested positive for COVID-19 was reported from Maharashtra taking the number of casualties to three in the country.

Anti-HIV Drug Combination Lopinavir-Ritonavir Recommended

The Union Health Ministry has recommended use of anti-HIV drug combinations Lopinavir and Ritonavir on a case-to-case basis depending upon the severity of the condition of a patient having coronavirus infection.

In its revised guidelines on the 'Clinical Management of COVID - 19' issued on Tuesday, the ministry recommended Lopinavir-Ritonavir for high-risk groups patients aged above 60, suffering from diabetes mellitus, renal failure, chronic lung disease and are immuno- compromised.

According to a health ministry official, a committee of experts comprising doctors from AIIMS, experts from National Centre for Disease Control and World Health Organisation among others revisited the treatment guidelines and recommended supportive treatment in patients suffering from coronavirus infection.

The ministry also recommended Lopinavir-Ritonavir for symptomatic patients having hypoxia, hypotension, new onset organ dysfunction (one or more), increase in creatinine by 50% from baseline and any other organ dysfunction among others.

There is no current evidence from randomised controlled trial to recommend any specific treatment for suspected or confirmed patients with COVID-19.

No specific anti-virals are recommended for treatment of those suffering from respiratory ailment due to lack of adequate evidence from medical literature.

"The use of Lopinavir-Ritonavir in PEP regimens for HIV (4 weeks) is also associated with significant adverse events which many a times leads to discontinuation of therapy.

"In light of the above, Lopinavir-Ritonavir should only be used with proper informed expressed consent on a case to case basis for severe cases, within the mentioned framework along with supportive treatment as per need," the guidelines stated.

This combination of drugs was given for the first time in India to an elderly Italian couple currently undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at the SMS hospital in Jaipur.

Lopinavir-Ritonavir is used widely for controlling HIV infection.

The guidelines issued by the health advise the treating doctors to closely monitor patients with severe acute respiratory infection for signs of clinical deterioration, such as rapidly progressive respiratory failure and sepsis, and apply supportive care interventions immediately.

"Application of timely, effective, and safe supportive therapies is the cornerstone of therapy for patients that develop severe manifestations of COVID-19," it said.