Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis has asked Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to withdraw the decision of not conducting COVID-19 tests of asymptomatic persons.
In his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis informed that the report published by state Medical Education department stated that almost 63 to 79 per cent COVID-19 positive cases are asymptomatic.
“Putting a stop to asymptomatic tests in disastrous. Of the all COVID-19 patients admitted in hospitals, 79 per cent have shown no symptoms. The decision taken by BMC and Maharashtra government to not test asymptomatic patients increases the risk of infection spread in Mumbai,” Devendra Fadnavis said.
Fadnavis further informed that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines recommend that the people who are in high-risk group should be tested for COVID-19 even if they are asymptomatic.
Earlier, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) decided to selectively test asymptomatic high-risk people. The civic body has also decided that a suspected coronavirus death will be subjected to audit before confirmed as one. The asymptomatic high-risk people are the close contacts of the positive COVID-19 cases.
This is against the guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) which are to test all asymptomatic high-risk contacts including family members. The duration is between the fifth and 14th day of suspected exposure to the infection.
Fadnavis, in his second letter to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, reiterated that the ICMR testing guideline for searching COVID-19 patients should be strictly followed. Moreover, the BJP leader also said that the BMC and the state government should not hide the positive cases while making the reports.
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