The Centre is launching a National Clinical Registry for Covid-19 (NCRC), which will enable collection of real time clinical data for evidence-based clinical practice, research, formulating guidelines and policy making.

In a letter of intent for participation in the NCRC, the Indian Council of Medical Research stated that the registry will collect data regarding clinical and laboratory features, treatments and outcomes of Covid-19 patients who are hospitalised.

Also, multi-system inflammatory disorders in children and adolescents will be studied. Data will also be utilised to study the natural course of the disease, the spectrum, risk factors, outcomes data in terms of medications and health systems and also behaviour of Covid-19 in those with tuberculosis and malnutrition. Also, follow up data of discharged Covid-19 patients will be collected.

ICMR has proposed that data from 100 hospitals will be collected over a duration of one year. These hospitals must receive at least 100 Covid-19 patients in a month. The personnel in these sites will be trained, mentored and supervised by 15 medical institutes of repute across the country. including PGIMER Chandigarh, AIIMS in New Delhi, Bhopal and Raipur, Armed Forces Medical College Pune, NIMHANS Bengaluru, JIPMER Puducherry.

The registry will help in generating weekly epidemiological and clinical reports which will be published on the ICMR website. It will also help in formulating patient management protocols and develop policy guidelines, ICMR stated. It will help understand the predictors of disease severity and optimise patient management protocols.

ICMR is keen on understanding variations in clinical signs and symptoms as well as spectrum of the disease in India as compared to other affected countries.

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