NEW DELHI: While the predictions are that the number of COVID-19 cases in India is going to go up in the coming weeks, testing in the national capital has been abysmally low.
According to a health report of Delhi government, the total population under various containment zones in the capital is approximately 3.23 lakh but the number of people tested till April 22 was only 5,619 or nearly 1.7 per cent.
While 995 samples were tested for coronavirus on Wednesday, 1,173 were tested at on Tuesday. The pan-Delhi samples tested so far, including containment zones, stand at a paltry 28,309.
In Delhi, the AAP government received 42,000 rapid testing kits which were to be used first in the containment zones.
However, even before these kits could be used on a large scale, the Indian Council of Medical Research, (ICMR) sent a new advisory restricting their use following complaints of faulty kits.
On Wednesday, however, the ICMR said these rapid tests cannot replace the RT-PCR test to diagnose COVID-19 cases and are large to be used as a tool for surveillance.
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An official from South District said that with no supply of rapid testing kits to the area, RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) remained the only option.
“We conduct 50-60 tests in a day on an average, but it depends upon the need,” said the official.
When asked about the low number of tests, Delhi government officials chose to remain mum.
Senior officials, including Delhi’s health secretary and special secretary, didn’t respond to phone calls and messages sent through WhatsApp by this newspaper, asking how the government planned to use 42,000 kits when the population of containment zones alone is over 3 lakh and whether the ICMR advisory on the use of rapid tests as a surveillance tool would impact the testing process.
“We need more testing; all patients with influenza-like symptoms must be tested. Secondly, these rapid testing kits, specifically the ones procured from China, are faulty which raises serious concerns over their effectiveness,” said Dr Harjit Bhatti, national president, Progressive Medicos & Scientists Forum.