ICMR for pool testing of returning migrants

Hyderabad: The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has said that states should begin pool testing of all incoming migrants, whether they were returning to their own states or flying in from other countries.

It said pools of 25 persons should be made whose samples could be combined into one and tested for the virus. In the event of a positive result, then all the individuals in such a group should be tested. If the result of the pool test is negative, members of the pool should follow the quarantine procedures.

Meanwhile, the daily rise in coronavirus infections in Greater Hyderabad continued to go up. On Thursday, 40 of the 47 new cases were reported from the GHMC area. The state has a total of 1,414 cases, of which 428 have been discharged so far including 13 on Thursday.

Health minister Etala Rajendar held an extended video conference with health workers from all districts and urged them to conduct a door-to-door survey of fever and flu symptoms and called for identification of possible Covid-19 suspects for testing.

While five new cases were reported from Ranga Reddy district, two more migrants – one each from Nalgonda, and Jagitial districts - tested positive for the disease.

In GHMC area, it was learnt that three more persons from a family of five, two of whom have already tested positive, were among the 40 new cases. Among the three is a nine-month old baby, it was learnt.