The Delhi Health Department on January 11 directed health authorities, hospitals and dispensaries in the city to follow the Centre's new advisory on COVID testing.

According to the new advisory, contacts of confirmed COVID cases do not need to get tested unless identified as "high-risk" based on age or comorbidities, The ICMR Advisory on Purposive Testing Strategy for COVID-19 also said individuals undertaking inter-state domestic travels do not need to get tested either. It said testing can be undertaken either through RT-PCR, TrueNat, CBNAAT, CRISPR, RT-LAMP, Rapid Molecular Testing Systems or through Rapid Antigen Test (RAT).

A positive point-of-care test (home or self-test/RAT) and molecular test is to be considered confirmatory without any repeat testing, the advisory said. Symptomatic individuals, testing negative on home/self-test or RAT should undertake RT-PCR test, it stated.