Bombay HC orders state govt to allow testing of all COVID frontline workers in Vidarbha

Ensuring frontline Coronavirus (COVID-19) workers' safety, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, on Monday, directed the Maharashtra government to conduct RT-PCR tests on all medical staff and police personnel in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region. The bench headed by Justices Ravi Deshpande and Amit Borkar all frontline workers deployed in that region were entitled to tests, if they expressed willingness to undergo the test. Maharashtra currently tops the nation's Coronavirus tally with 67655 cases and 2286 fatalities.

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Bombay HC orders testing of Vidarbha corona warriors

The court also included asymptomatic frontline workers in this category of testing. It rebutted the state government's statement that guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research do not cover frontline workers for RT-PCR testing. ICMR has been given a week to frame protocol to test COVID-19 workers in Vidarbha region - which include doctors, nurses, police personnel, sanitation workers and so on.

ICMR revises testing guidelines; asymptomatic & high risk to be tested between 5-10 days

ICMR revises testing guidelines

On May 18, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had revised its testing strategy for Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases. As per the new guidelines, asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of COVID-19 positive patients must be tested between 5-10 days of coming into contact. Amid the heavy movement of migrant labourers across the country via Shramik trains, buses, and on-foot in some cases, ICMR has mandated symptomatic returnees to be tested within seven days. Meanwhile, only symptomatic healthcare workers/frontline workers involved in containment and mitigation of COVID-19 are eligible for testing.

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ICMR testing guidelines

On April 9,  the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) released its testing strategy to include testing in 'hotspots/cluster' for all symptomatic cases - within 7 days (rRT- PCR method) and after 7 days (antibody test).  The ICMR previously only allowed testing of all people with symptoms with travel history, contact history, SARI patients and asymptomatic people with high-risk contacts. Currently, India's active cases stand at 93,322, recovered cases at 91,818 with 5,394 fatalities as it begins re-opening through 'Unlock 1'.

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The Centre has announced that the nationwide- Coronavirus lockdown has been extended till June 30, 2020. The Centre has also announced that the re-opening of the areas outside containment zones will be done in three phases. PM Modi first announced a nationwide lockdown on March 25, when India had 519 cases and nine deaths. It has been extnded four times since then.

(With PTI Inputs)