COVID-19: ICMR recommends testing of symptomatic cases in hotspots

The testing strategy in the country has been extended to include all cases with symptoms of COVID-19 in the identified hotspots, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Friday. The ICMR official also said that a total of 213 testing laboratories for the infection were present in the country, including 146 government and 67 private labs.

"The testing strategy has been extended further to include all symptomatic cases in hotspot areas," said Manoj Murhekar of the ICMR said at the daily press briefing.

Speaking further about the total number of tests conducted in the country, Murhekar said: "A total of 1,44,910 samples were tested till Thursday night, collected from 1,30,792 suspected patients, out of which 5,705 were positive. Yesterday alone 16,002 tests were conducted, which is a substantial increase over the last few days."

Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Dammu Ravi, AS and Coordinator -- COVID-19, MEA, Lav Agrawal, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), and an official from the PIB were also present at the press briefing.

At the briefing, the PIB official said that under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana Scheme, Rs 280 crore has been withdrawn by 1.37 lakh employees from the EPFO funds.

READ: Punjab cabinet unanimously approves extension of lockdown in state till May 1

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Meanwhile, Coronavirus cases in India rose to 6761on Friday, out of which 206 people have died from the infection. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged people to download the 'Aarogya Setu' mobile application, saying it is a fantastic use of technology to combat Coronavirus. "Tracks the spread of COVID-19 and notifies you if someone around you is suffering from it. "Also lists help-desk numbers of various states," the Prime Minister said in a series of tweets.

Furthermore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with Chief Ministers of all states on Saturday via video conference, where a call would be taken on whether the 21-day lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus, ending next week, should be extended.

READ: Punjab cabinet unanimously approves extension of lockdown in state till May 1

READ: ICMR revises COVID-19 testing strategy to include 'testing clusters using anti-body tests'

(with inputs from ANI)