With the revised guidelines for coronavirus testing issued by Union Health Ministry, the Government Medical College Srinagar today started coronavirus testing of people with flu symptoms but no travel history.
Two samples were taken today from patients complainingsevere acute respiratory infection (SARI) at Government Medical CollegeSrinagar. Both of them had no travel history.
The samples, Dr Saleem Khan, head department of social andpreventive medicine and nodal officer for covid-19 response, said were taken asper the revised guidelines of Indian Council of Medical Research, issued onSaturday. “We have been directed to include patients hospitalized with SARI andwe have started that,” he said.
In addition to these, one more sample was taken at SMHS Hospitaltoday, he said. At Chest Diseases Hospital, seven samples were taken today andthe reports were awaited when this news was filed late in the evening. Twosamples have tested negative for COVID19, Dr Khan said.
At Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS),three samples have tested negative for covid-19, while no new patient wasadmitted today.
“All our samples from yesterday have tested negative. Noreports are awaited now,” Dr Farooq Jan, medical superintendent SKIMS said.
He said that 18 people were admitted in the quarantinefacility of the hospital while one patient was admitted to isolation ward.
SKIMS, he said, had not yet started testing patients withSARI.
The criteria of SARI has been included by ICMR to check forcommunity transmission of COVID19. ICMR has directed all its designated COVID19labs to collect random samples of people with SARI to evaluate communitytransmission in India.
Meanwhile, J&K Government today informed that 3938travelers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been put undersurveillance and, so far, only four cases have tested positive in Jammu andKashmir.