Highlights It is difficult to detect asymptomatic cases, says Top scientist

There is no other way to detect them than contact-tracing, he added

India has reported over 17,000 coronavirus cases so far

80 per cent of people with coronavirus in India are asymptomatic, or do not show symptoms of the infection, and this is matter of worry, a senior scientist at the country's top medical research body told NDTV.

"80 per cent of the cases are asymptomatic. Our biggest worry is on their detection. There is no other way than contact-tracing," said Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, a senior scientist at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The red flag comes amid concerns that there may be many asymptomatic people who are yet to be detected. Over 17,000 coronavirus cases, including 543 deaths, have been reported from across India as of Monday morning.

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," Dr Gangakhedkar told NDTV.

When asked if there will be a change in the testing strategy to detect COVID-19 patients who do not show any symptoms, the scientist said, "What change can be made? There's no scope for it. Wherever there is infection or in a hotspot, tests are being made for influenza-like illness (ILI). I'm not sure what further steps can be taken."

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.