Covid-19: Delhi govt orders hospitals to test all ‘high-risk’ individuals

The order defines high-risk group undergoing chemotherapy, immunosuppressed, suffering from a malignancy, transplant patients and elderly (over 65 years of age) with co-morbidities.

The Delhi government on Sunday made it mandatory for all hospitals to conduct rapid antigen testing on all people with influenza like illness, all patients admitted with severe acute respiratory infection cases, all asymptomatic admitted patients or those falling in the high-risk group seeking admission in their facility.

ICMR had provided 50,000 kits to Delhi government for conducting antigen based testing across the state. (Sonu Mehta/HT photo)

The order defines high-risk group undergoing chemotherapy, immunosuppressed, suffering from a malignancy, transplant patients and elderly (over 65 years of age) with co-morbidities.

All patients undergoing aerosol generating procedures such as dental procedures will also have to undergo the test, the order says.

“In view of above, medical directors, medical superintendents, directors of all hospitals of Government of NCT of Delhi are directed to ensure that rapid antigen detection testing of all individuals or patients falling in the above categories who visit their hospital is mandatorily done,” read the directive from Delhi government’s health and family welfare department.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on June 17 had issued an advisory to states, recommending antigen based rapid test to be expanded in a big way, especially those with high disease burden.

Tests that detect presence or absence of an antigen in the body are called antigen detection tests. An antigen is a foreign molecule that induces an immune response within the body, especially the production of antibodies, and detecting its presence determines present infection.

Delhi was the first state to roll out antigen based testing in June as Covid-19 cases had seen an unusual surge.

ICMR had provided 50,000 kits to Delhi government for conducting antigen based testing across the state.

An ICMR official, in the know of things, said, on condition of anonymity, “Antigen based test can help determine an ongoing infection which is why it is a good tool that can be used for diagnosis of Covid-19 along with the RT-PCR testing. RT-PCR, while a gold standard in diagnosing Covid-19, needs a proper biosafety level 2 lab for analysis. Antigen based test is a rapid point-of-care test that can be done on the spot without posing a biosafety hazard as it doesn’t deal with analyisng a live virus.”

RT-PCR testing also has its limitations in terms of widespread availability because of the need for a specialized lab for analysis, and it takes about five hours to get results as compared to 30 minutes needed for antigen-based testing.

The move is a part of enhancing Covid-19 testing capacity in the country as an upsurge in cases due to increased transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus that is expected because of relaxation in travel restrictions in the country post lockdown.