New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) updated its Covid-19 testing strategy last week to allow on-demand tests, which means anyone can get themselves tested for coronavirus now, whether or not they have a prescription.
While walk-in tests now have the central government’s blessings, many states did away with the provision for prescriptions long before the ICMR update. They include Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Meanwhile, other states and union territories — including Delhi and Telangana — have changed rules in line with the ICMR revision.
“On-demand” tests are expected to help present a clearer picture of infection prevalence since the vast majority of Covid-19 patients are believed to be asymptomatic. The new advisory stems from the government’s emphasis on widening the testing net to better tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
Also Read: Modelling, testing, sero survey, vaccine — 4 lessons India learnt from 4 months of Covid
The new ICMR policy
The ICMR updated its policy Saturday amid a rise in the number of cases. India now has the world’s second-highest number of coronavirus cases after the US, at over 41 lakh as of Monday. The US had recorded over 61.4 lakh cases by the same date, with 1.87 lakh deaths compared to India’s 70,626.
The apex medical research agency has added a new section in the central government’s advisory, “Testing on Demand”, to do away with the requirement of prescriptions from medical practitioners for a Covid-19 test.
State and union territory governments have been given the freedom to decide on “simplified modalities”, the Ministry of Health said in a statement Saturday.
The rules earlier required people to either have flu-like symptoms or to have come into close contact with an infected person, following which a doctor could issue a prescription for a test.
The revision came after the Delhi High Court asked last week why people who show no symptoms of the disease — which can be a large proportion of Covid-19 patients — cannot get a test.
What states & UTs have been doing
On Tuesday evening, the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi announced that no one will require a prescription for testing.
Delhi govt has increased testing multi-fold.
I have directed Health Minister this morning that Doctor’s prescription shud not be asked for testing. Anyone can get himself tested.
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) September 8, 2020
The chief minister made the announcement hours after the Delhi High Court said that Covid-19 RT-PCR tests won’t require a prescription in the capital.
Meanwhile, a few government and private hospitals have started making testing compulsory for all patients in Delhi as they try to strike a balance between the recent surge in cases and tending to those needing non-Covid treatment.
For example, at GB Pant, a government hospital, a separate area has been allotted near the registration counter where patients can get tested for coronavirus.
In Uttar Pradesh, until Saturday, doctors were seeking prescriptions for testing. However, Dr D.S. Negi, director general, medical health and education, told ThePrint that they can no longer make prescriptions a compulsion in light of the ICMR’s latest advisory. “But it is crucial for a person to be able to provide adequate information about contact history etc before the test is conducted,” he added.
In Madhya Pradesh, patients were being asked for prescriptions before the ICMR update, but won’t be anymore, said Dr Jyoti Bindal, dean of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College in Indore and a member of the state government’s Covid-19 taskforce.
In Telangana, too, the requirement was discontinued Sunday. “We weren’t insisting earlier but, nonetheless, it (a prescription) was a requirement for people wanting to get tested. However, now they can get tested at any of the centres without a doctor’s prescription too,” said Telangana director for public health Dr G. Srinivas.
Also Read: Delhi scientists develop ‘non-fussy’ Covid test, say it’s cheaper & faster than RT-PCR
Did away with prescriptions before ICMR revision
Other larger states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat had discontinued the prescription requirement much before the ICMR announcement.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the civic agency for Maharashtra capital Mumbai, said on 7 July that “no prescription or self-declaration is required for Covid testing of symptomatic or asymptomatic individuals”, also allowing home-swab collections. Earlier, only patients with symptoms and a doctor’s prescription were allowed to get tested. The same month, the state did away with the requirement of prescriptions too.
In Punjab, the same announcement was made on 19 August, for government as well as private facilities. Similar instructions are in place in Punjab capital and union territory Chandigarh.
On 9 August, the Chandigarh administration said, “Private labs approved by the ICMR and located in Chandigarh are allowed corona testing through the RT-PCR test without a prescription from a medical practitioner on a payment basis.”
In Rajasthan, Dr Rommel Singh, in-charge of Covid-19 containment in Bhilwara, said the state was initially seeking a doctor’s prescription from people interested in getting themselves tested, but added that it is no longer a mandatory requirement.
“It was discontinued since the government took a call on testing more to control the spread of the pandemic. Hence, to test more, we had to allow people to come forward, else, sometimes, the prescription process can be time-consuming,” Dr Singh added.
Prescriptions have not been mandatory in Gujarat since late July, when the state rolled out the quick antigen-based Covid tests, government sources confirmed to ThePrint.
In Assam, a senior IAS officer, requesting anonymity, said prescriptions were required in the initial stages of the pandemic, but they were never mandatory. Some hospitals, however, continue to seek prescriptions, the officer added.
Among southern states, prescription has not been a test requirement in Andhra Pradesh for some time now. “As part of the government’s strategy to trace, test and treat, we have been carrying out increased testing and, hence, anyone who wishes to get tested, is free to go to a lab and get it done,” state Health Secretary Jawahar Reddy said.
Dr C.N. Manjunath, chairperson of the expert committee supervising Covid-19 hospitals in Karnataka, said prescriptions are not required for tests in the state, and they never were a prerequisite.
“While a few hospitals insisted on prescriptions, it is not a precondition to get the test done,” he added. “People can just walk into any Covid-19 testing unit and get tested.”
In Chhattisgarh, a prescription isn’t necessary either. “Anyone who wants can go to the designated testing centres and give their sample for examination,” said Dr Subhash Pandey, data incharge and spokesperson for the Covid-19 state command and control centre. Beginning last month, the state also made Covid-19 testing mandatory for anyone suffering from a flu or cough infection.
Inputs from Kairvy Grewal, Prithviraj Singh and Rohini Swamy
Also Read: Covid tests, HCQ, oxygen — Coronavirus is leading to boom in illegal darknet markets