New norms to prescribe random Covid tests for kids in Karnataka

KEY STORY 

• With schools reopening in the offline mode, the state government is coming out with revised guidelines on Covid tests for children that will include random tests on 5 per cent of children every week.

• If more than 1 per cent of the children test positive in a week, offline classes in the school concerned will be suspended and classrooms/school will be closed for sanitisation. Officials said there will be no complacency, and if positive cases turn up, contact tracing, testing of primary and secondary contacts, isolation of symptomatic children will be done for a week and classrooms/school will be reopened only after seven days.

• Experts from the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), which has recommended the revised testing guidelines, told TNIE that the age group of 12-18 will be prioritised for tests.  They recommended that any child with symptoms of fever, cold, cough, throat pain, difficulty in breathing, etc should be immediately isolated and tested.

• Guidelines based on TAC report

Sources said that the state government will soon issue an order with revised testing norms for children. “The child will be preferably tested by RAT (Rapid Antigen Test), and if it is negative then RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction) test will be done as per existing Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) norms,” a senior doctor, part of the TAC who attended the meeting where the guidelines were finalised, said.

“The norms have been changed and recommendations given in terms of age, frequency and numbers.” Dr Srikanta JT, Consultant- Paediatric Interventional Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, Aster CMI Hospital, and member of the state Covid committee set up to tackle the third wave, said, “After schools reopened in the state, we found cluster cases at a school in Chikkaballapura, but so far no such cases have been reported in Bengaluru.

Many private schools have offered the hybrid option (online/offline classes) for parents and they have been trained to follow safety precautions even after children reach home. These things will surely help in controlling Covid cases in schools. But considering that this is not enough, experts recommended random testing of children to ensure we keep a close watch and not let clusters form in schools.” He said influenza-like illness in children has become a major concern as there is an increase in kids with these symptoms and many of them needing admission to ICUs.