All govt and private hospitals to discontinue precautionary Covid-19 testing of asymptomatic patients: Karnataka Health Minister Dr Sudhakar K

The Karnataka state government in a recently released order has given relaxation in terms of Covid-19 testing. Karnataka Health Minister Dr Sudhakar K today said that all government and private hospitals in the state have been instructed to discontinue precautionary Covid 19 testing of asymptomatic patients prior to hospitalisation, surgeries, scanning and other medical procedures The decision has been taken with regard to a significant decline in Covid-19 cases.

As per the guidelines, following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the non-Covid patients were affected due to the non-availability of efficient services in the hospitals; especially those who had medical emergencies. "Following the three waves of the pandemic in the state, the health services are now better equipped and proficient to manage both Covid and non-Covid cases in the same hospital. To facilitate these dual services in the hospitals, the state government recently issued an order to that effect," the order said.

The new guidelines also state that it is now more important that the recent ICMR advisory on purposive testing strategy for Covid-19 in India be followed more carefully.

The two premier hospitals in the country, AIIMS, New Delhi and PGIMER, Chandigarh, have already issued directions for discontinuation of screening of asymptomatic patients for Covid-19 before.

Moreover, the hospital infection control committee (HICC) will be proactive in this regard, the new guidelines suggest.

Meanwhile, The Karnataka government said the state has crossed 10 million Covid vaccination doses. State Health Minister Dr Sudhakar on Wednesday, ‘’Karnataka has crossed 10 crore Covid vaccination doses today.’’

Karnataka on Tuesday had reported 767 fresh cases of coronavirus and 29 fatalities, taking the aggregate to 39,38,032 and the toll to 39,845.