Coming in Delhi: Testing camps at construction sites, ISBTs; test-on-demand policy

To ramp up testing in Delhi amid the rising number of Covid-19 cases, the Delhi disaster management authority (DDMA) on Wednesday decided to open testing camps at construction sites, all inter-state bus terminals (ISBTs) and railway stations, senior government officials said.

To ramp up testing in Delhi amid the rising number of Covid-19 cases, the Delhi disaster management authority (DDMA) on Wednesday decided to open testing camps at construction sites, all inter-state bus terminals (ISBTs) and railway stations, senior government officials said.

While these camps will be set up in a week, lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal directed officials to simultaneously draft a policy to introduce a ‘test-on-demand’ programme, wherein people could call at a helpline and fix an appointment at the nearest Covid testing centre without having to wait in a queue. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT Photo)

While these camps will be set up in a week, lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal directed officials to simultaneously draft a policy to introduce a ‘test-on-demand’ programme, wherein people could call at a helpline and fix an appointment at the nearest Covid testing centre without having to wait in a queue.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the DDMA chaired by Baijal in the presence of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is vice-chairperson of the authority, Dr VK Paul, member of NIti Aayog, AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria, ICMR director-general Dr Balram Bhargava and other ministers and top officials of the state government.

A testing centre is already functioning at the Anand Vihar ISBT since August 13 to screen migrants heading back to the Capital, where as many as 3,381 people have undergone rapid antigen tests till Wednesday, of which 19 have been diagnosed Covid-19 positive, government officials said.

A senior official of the DDMA said the rising Covid-19 cases in Delhi was discussed at length during the meeting.

Delhi on Wednesday recorded 2,509 new cases, the highest since the beginning of July.

“Principal secretary (health and family welfare) Vikram Dev Dutt informed DDMA about some probable reasons for the increase in positivity rate Delhi. The possible reasons included the lack of adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour; impact of festivals in the month of August; late testing by Covid suspects; cross-infection; return of migrants and unlock measures,” the DDMA official said.

In a statement issued late evening, the DDMA said the L-G advised that besides the entry points to the city (ISBTs and railway stations), large-scale construction sites should be covered through special camps for targeted testing.

This is in line with the Delhi high court’s directions issued on Monday to ramp up testing in Delhi.

After becoming the first major region to register a sustained fall in cases, Delhi has seen an uptick since mid-August, prompting Kejriwal to hold an emergency meeting on August 26 where it was decided that the rate of testing will be doubled to nearly 40,000 a day in the next week.

Accordingly, the government increased its daily numbers from Monday when 24,198 tests were conducted. In the past 24 hours, the government conducted 28,835 tests -- the highest in Delhi a single day so far.

“Ramping up testing facilities and augmenting hospital infrastructure keeping in view the changing scenario were discussed. The LG directed that home isolation cases need to be regularly reviewed and technology needs to be leveraged more effectively to ensure compliance. He directed the government to focus on rural areas separately,” the DDMA’s statement read.

Health department data showed the spike in Covid-19 cases was noticed from the last two weeks of August.

“There was around 35% increase in the positive cases in the fourth week of August over the third week of August. Also, 30-40% of the daily new cases are originating from the same family. Besides, increasing incidence of Covid-19 cases has been observed in migrant habitations,” a health official said.

During the meeting, Dr Paul advised that the Capital needs to re-strategise its Covid-19 management by enhancing testing, intensifying tracking and augmenting available medical infrastructure with a focus on hot spots, containment zones and the use of technology to improve contact tracing, quarantine, isolation and containment zone planning, the DDMA said.

While the LG’s office did not comment on the matter, Delhi government officials said that activities under the Centre’s unlock 4 guidelines were only briefly discussed in the meeting.

“Since the Centre has already allowed the resumption of metro services, it was decided that the finer details of the operation of Delhi Metro would be discussed in a day or two once the SOPs are issued by the Centre. The same was for the decisions on allowing inter-state buses and opening of gyms,” a second DDMA official said.

Anand Vihar testing

A senior official, citing records maintained by the Shahdara revenue district, said, “All 19 people who tested Covid-19 positive in Anand Vihar had arrived from Uttar Pradesh. Two of them were women. All 19 were symptomatic and sent to Covid care centres.” Anand Vihar is in the jurisdiction of Shahdara district.

The Delhi government spokespersons did not comment on the positive cases reported at Anand Vihar.

The Centre government has allowed inter-state road transport under its Covid-19 unlock plan but Delhi is yet to take a final call on allowing buses to enter the city. However, the Anand Vihar ISBT, which is right next to the Delhi-UP border, has witnessed large footfalls .

Most migrants coming back from various districts in UP step down at another bus terminal in Kaushambi on the Ghaziabad side, bang opposite the Anand Vihar ISBT. From there, they would walk to Anand Vihar and then take local buses in Delhi to reach their destination, said another district official.

The official cited above said heath officers deployed at the centre roughly test one out of three persons – which essentially means around 10,000 people have arrived in Delhi after August 13 via Anand Vihar in working hours. The centre operates from 7 am to 7 pm.

Dr Lalit Kant, former head of epidemiology and communicable diseases department in the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said: “The objective of the tests play a crucial role in this case. Since, the government is isolating positive cases, they should ideally test all individuals. RT-PCR should be a preferred mode in this case.”

Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests are considered to be more accurate.

T Jacob John, former professor of virology at Christian Medical College in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore, said using RT-PCR tests in these centres, where migrants are tested, would help the government in accurately detecting more Covid-19 positive cases but the process may have its own challenges.

John said, “Conducting RT-PCR tests on all individuals arriving in the city would require the capacity of laboratories to be increased immensely. So, instead of that, the government can first reduce the numbers by a round of rapid antibody tests and relieve people who are found to have contracted the virus and recovered. The second round should be rapid antigen tests and those found positive should be isolated immediately. Both tests show results within 30 minutes and the kits are cheap. On the remaining population, RT-PCR tests can be done.”