NEW DELHI: South West district, which has the highest number of containment zones in Delhi, is carrying out aggressive Covid tests to contain the virus spread, senior officials said.
According to the Delhi government’s latest report, 101 of the total 658 containment zones hotspots fall in this district. South West district has been reporting the highest number of containment zones since the beginning of the pandemic.
But District Magistrate Rahul Singh is not perturbed with the situation, saying that the administration is taking all steps to amplify testing.
“There is a misconception that South West district has highest number of cases as there are 100-plus containment zones. It is not correct. South West district does not have the highest number of cases. More number of these zones shows that we are proactively dealing with the situation and containing the spread of disease.”
As many as 43,044 Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) were conducted in the last 25 days, Singh said, adding that it is the highest among all the districts.
This, he asserted, was only RAT figures implying that RT-PCR tests were also being done in his district. About 2,000 tests are being done daily in the entire district, he added.
RAT is being extensively used by the Delhi government to test, trace and isolate Covid patients for reducing the virus load in the city.
On Thursday, it said RAT will be offered by all city government-run dispensaries and polyclinics from 9 am to 12 noon on all working days to all eligible individuals. South West district was the first to start RAT at dispensaries, Singh said.
In line with the central rules, Delhi has changed its parameters of identifying containment zones, resulting in a rise in their numbers.
It is one of the steps taken by both the governments to tackle the situation after a major spike in Covid cases in June.
“Having more number of containment zones will help us in controlling the Covid spread. South West district has done the highest number of RAT tests in entire Delhi till date since June 18,” Singh said.