NEW DELHI: The health ministry on Monday said 80% of Covid-19 cases were either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms, emphasising on the need to follow lockdown rules and maintain social distancing even within the family to avoid further spread of the infection.
Responding to concerns that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients were silent carriers, the health ministry as well as the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said while it was not possible to test everyone, there were adequate provisions under the current testing strategy to test suspected asymptomatic people with contact or travel history, and even those with mild flu-like symptoms in high risk areas. The testing protocol also covers patients with severe acute respiratory illness.
“On the basis of worldwide analysis, 80% of coronavirus patients are asymptomatic or show mild symptoms. Around 15% turn into severe cases and 5% turn into critical cases,” health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said. He added “mild sympt
