Indore, Apr 22 (PTI) As 50 per cent of the coronavirus patients in Indore citys busiest COVID-19 hospital initially did not show any symptoms for the infection, the activists have urged the state government to scale up the screening to identify asymptomatic persons.

Talking to PTI, Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Science's (SAIMS) Medicine Department head, Dr Ravi Dosi, said in the last one month, he had seen around nearly 550 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

"Of them, 275 did not demonstrate the pandemic symptoms initially," he said.

Fever, sore throat, cold and dry cough are some of the symptoms of coronavirus infection, he added.

At least 73 per cent of unidentified asymptomatic patients showed up in other hospitals.

A doctor from the government-run Manorama Raje TB hospital said that their facility has seen 90 virus patients since a month.

"Of them, 66 per cent did not show any symptoms," the doctor said.

A health activist, Amulya Nidhi, said, "The government should scale up the screening and testing of common people to identify the asymptomatic patients and admit them to hospitals before the lockdown is lifted.

"Otherwise, the asymptomatic patients would affect many others in the city," he said.

The city has 30 lakh plus population.

Other activists expressed similar concerns.

District Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO), Praveen Jadia, said that samples of 4,000 people were sent to different laboratories for testing over the last one month, of whom 923 tested positive.

Fifty-two people have died during treatment, while 72 have been discharged after recovery, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)