Amid the ongoing COVID-19 chaos in the country, All India Institute Of Medical Sciences director Dr Randeep Guleria said that in most of the mild and asymptomatic Covid-19 cases, the virus dies after the 7th or the 8th day and so there is no need for Covid test after home isolation. The AIIMS director said that at this stage the virus can't be transmitted to another person.
Although, the dead virus, or the particles of the dead virus, can be picked up by the RT-PCR test and a positive report still may come, when a person has become free from covid. "It is scientifically proved that the virus in mild cases dies after six or seven days," Dr Guleria said.
The Centre in its new guidelines for Covid treatment under home isolation has said that Covid-19 patients have to remain in isolation for 10 days. After this period is over, the isolation period can be ended provided there is no fever for three days.
Dr Guleria also warned against rushing for CT scans in cases of mild COVID-19, saying there are side effects and it can end up doing more harm than good.
"One CT scan is equivalent to 300 to 400 chest X-rays. According to data, repeated CT scans in younger age groups increase the risk of cancer in later life. Exposing yourself to radiation again and again may cause damage. So there is no point in doing CT scan in mild COVID-19 cases if oxygen saturation is normal," he said.
He added, "There have been studies which show that around 30-40 per cent of people who are asymptomatic but are Covid positive and got a CT scan done, they also had patches which ended without any treatment."
As the second wave of coronavirus continues to engulf several parts of the country, the Centre on Monday said some states are showing very early signs of plateauing in daily new COVID-19 cases, while some remain a cause of concern.
Currently, there are 12 states where active cases are more than a lakh. They are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu. There are seven states where the active cases are in the range of 50,000 to 1 lakh cases and 17 states where the active cases are more than 50,000.
