NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Delhi government to set up sample collection centres and testing points for Covid-19 not only at mohalla clinics but also at community centres to check the spread of the virus.
“We are of the opinion that not only mohalla clinics, but even community centres situated in residential colonies should also be roped in for setting up facilities for Covid-19 testing particularly when the number of cases are shooting up on a daily basis,” said the High Court.
According to the Delhi government, there are currently 435 mohalla clinics in the city of which 400 are presently functional. Of these, 50-60 clinics have started conducting the Covid-19 tests in the second half of the day after OPD consultations are dealt with. The HC also asked the AAP led state government to ensure that while getting the mapping done, the density of the population and the number of containment zones in a particular area are taken into consideration.
If there is a distance between the facilities presently set up for testing purposes and the residential areas then the dots shall be connected with the presence of mohalla clinics and community centres of the area.
“Necessary compliances in this regard shall be made at the earliest. The requisite number of mohalla clinics and community centres shall be identified in each District and included in the mapping being undertaken by Geospatial Delhi Limited,” the HC bench added.
The bench headed by Justice Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad also asked the State govt to increase its RT-PCR testing as Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) were only 60 per cent accurate. The HC also asked an expert committee to be set up by the Lieutenant-Governor and convene a meeting on a priority basis to increase the capacity of RT/PCR testing.
The bench also noted that in the week from September 8 to 15, the testing done through RT/PCR was less than one-fourth of the total number of tests conducted and that the rest was done by the RAT process. The HC has also asked the government to file a status report along with a report of the committee in this regard and listed the matter for further hearing on September 30. In response, the Delhi government said that they will implement the orders given by the court.