Ensure patients are told about Covid-19 test results within 24 hours: Delhi High Court

Citing the example of a court staff who got the Covid-19 test report in four days, a bench of justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad said it has been seen in several instances that the turnaround time has crossed four days which is not acceptable when the person is kept in isolation. I

The Delhi high court on Tuesday asked the Delhi government to declare the results of the Covid-19 tests within 24 hours. The court said it is completely “unacceptable” that the reports are coming as late as four days with no intimation to the patients who are kept in isolation till the report comes out.

A health worker collects a swab sample from a man for coronavirus testing, at Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg, in New Delhi. (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)

Citing the example of a court staff who got the Covid-19 test report in four days, a bench of justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad said it has been seen in several instances that the turnaround time has crossed four days which is not acceptable when the person is kept in isolation. It also said that the reports are not given on weekends.

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The court was hearing a plea by a lawyer Rakesh Malhotra seeking to ramp up testing in the national capital. It has been passing orders at regular intervals to monitor testing in the city. On an earlier date, the court had asked the expert committee constituted by the lieutenant governor Anil Baijal to design a strategy for ramping up tests in the city.

The committee had held a meeting and given certain recommendations, including delivering the reports within 24 hours and ramping up RT-PCR tests in the city.

According to Delhi government data, over 4 million tests have been conducted in the city.

A Delhi govt spokesperson did not respond repeated requests for a comment.

On Tuesday, the court also said that the patients should be told about the test result immediately.

The HC directed that the process be streamlined so that the reports are given within 24 hours.

“When the mobile numbers of the patients tested have been taken, then the lab can easily send a message to the person intimating the result,” the court said, adding that the issue needs to be addressed at the earliest.

Additional standing counsel Satyakam, appearing for the Delhi government, assured the court that he would take immediate steps.

The expert committee in its report said that at present more than 80% tests are conducted by rapid antigen method and in few districts it is up to 90-95%.

Currently test positivity is 4.3% by RAT and 20.33% by RT-PCR as on Sep 24, 2020. It said that majority of testing has been done in the camp settings (like railway stations, bus stand, crowded localities) and hence majority of people tested were asymptomatic.

The committee recommended that all high risk patients, all elderly and those suffering with co-morbidities (in containment zones) should be tested,” the report said.

It said that the tests should be conducted between the fifth to the tenth day (since the last exposure) if asymptomatic or as soon as symptoms start. It also said that the turnaround time of testing with results to be given within 24 hours and till the test result—suspected case should be kept in strict isolation.

During the hearing, the court also asked ICMR and CSIR to update the status on the approval of the new testing technique Feluda and asked them to file affidavits.

It also asked the Delhi government to submit the report of fourth sero survelliance, which is likely to conclude soon, to the court on the next date while cautioning it not to leak it to the media.

The matter would be now heard on November 11.