Health Ministry gives go-ahead to expand COVID-19 testing

• New circular issued naming several categories of persons to be tested
• Healthcare workers in quarantine among those to be tested

The Ministry of Health has decided to expand testing for the diagnosis of COVID-19. The categories to be tested includes patients in out-patient departments (OPDs) of COVID isolation and treatment hospitals presenting COVID-19-like symptoms irrespective of contact or travel history and healthcare staff who have self-quarantined following a high to moderate risk exposure.

The others to be tested include all severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) patients admitted to any hospital irrespective of age and any other patient in whom the treating clinician decides for exclusion of COVID-19. Testing will also be done in the cases of all deaths due to suspected pneumonia (inward, on admission, or in the field).

Community samples as decided by the public health staff in high risk areas, too, will be tested as part of early active case detection according to a new circular issued by Health Services Director General Dr. Anil Jasinghe. Thirteen hospitals have been named where the testing can be done at both the OPD level as well as inward patients.