The Union Health Ministry on Sunday said that the percentage of asymptomatic people testing positive for coronavirus is not very big, as per the global historical data however in its latest briefing, on Monday the MoHFW stated that 80 out of 100 people with infection do not show any symptoms, making them silent carriers of the virus.
“Of 100 people with infection, 80 do not have symptoms,” Raman R Gangakhedkar, Chief Epidemiologist, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Monday.
With mounting evidence that asymptomatic Covid-19 cases are spreading the infection, India’s top medical research body is grappling with the problem posed by “silent spreaders” and examining the feasibility of starting ‘door-to-door’ surveillance to monitor and test older people at high risk who don’t have symptoms. Some experts, however, believe this is a costly and unachievable objective.
The new revelation of asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic infection in India has sparked concerns. While ICMR officials do not recommend mass testing in India, given the size and scale of the country, experts familiar with the development said the door-to-door surveillance model is being examined.
It is difficult to detect asymptomatic cases and they can be found out only after tracing the contacts of people who have been tested positive, the top scientist said, adding that testing everyone is almost impossible.
The peak (number of cases) will not be so high. In the second week of May, we will be in a position to evaluate it in a better way”, said Dr. Gangakhedkar.
However , recent reports from different states have been disturbing and leading us to the conclusion that the number of asymptomatic cases is continuously rising making it difficult to fight against Covid-19.
Rajasthan
Many people in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, who were not showing any documented symptoms of the infection, were tested positive for the deadly virus.
According to a report, despite showing no symptoms, these people who were screened and their blood samples were tested, following the Rajasthan government’s decision to screen the entire Bhilwara town for the novel coronavirus, were tested positive for the disease.
Doctors said the coronavirus impact was earlier concentrated near the hospital, but now it seems to be moving towards the community stage. They said till now doctors, nursing workers and other staff were the ones to be found positive, but now patients who had been in contact with them, or even others contacted by the medical personnel are turning out to be positive. And many of them have reportedly shown no signs of the illness, despite which they have been tested positive.
Delhi
On Sunday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal cited instances of asymptomatic people testing positive for the virus and said of the 736 samples collected recently, 186 were found to be COVID-19 positive and these people did not know that they were carrying the virus.
Andhra Pradesh
Raising concerns of ‘community transmission,’ a district collector in Andhra Pradesh has said that the source of almost half of the COVID-19 positive cases in Vijayawada is unknown and most patients are asymptomatic.
A Md Imtiaz, Krishna District Collector, raised an alarm and cautioned that Vijayawada city is turning into a hotbed. Krishna district, of which Vijaywada is a part, has recorded the highest deaths compared to the rest of the districts in the state. He said that most people (about 90 percent) who were tested showed no symptoms, further adding to worry to the grave situation.
“There are apprehensions of community transmission. We have about 72 cases in Vijayawada alone as of Monday and for about 30 cases, we were not able to trace the source of where people contracted the virus from. This is a worrying situation. These are people with no travel history nor have they come in contact with anyone,” said Imtiaz .
Maharashtra
Meanwhile, even Uddhav Thackeray, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, said that over 70 per cent of novel coronavirus cases reported in the state were asymptomatic and the patients did not know that they were infected.
” 70 to 75 percent positive cases are asymptomatic. At least 52 per cent of the patients are in serious conditions. Many have reported in the last stage. I want to appeal that do not hide symptoms,” Uddhav Thackeray said in a video message.
Gujarat
In Gujarat the Covid-19 curve is rising sharply with a steep increase in the number of cases. The total number of cases in the State went up to 1,936 and the total number of deaths to 71.
According to the Health Department of Gujarat, the pandemic has spread to 25 districts, but the worst affected is Ahmedabad, with 1,101 cases and 32 deaths. Officials in the health department & civic bodies and the medical experts believe that the state has entered the stage of community transmission, with nearly 75% of the total cases being asymptomatic.
Tamil Nadu
Many patients, who have tested positive for Covid-19 in Tamil Nadu, are asymptomatic. So far, 17 Covid-19 positive patients have died in the state. Doctors involved in the treatment of patients have said that asymptomatic patients, who fall in the high risk category, including those in an older age group and those with comorbid conditions, will be monitored in high dependency units.
Currently, The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 603 and the number of cases climbed to 18,985 in India.