Delhi gets first batch of 42,000 kits, to start rapid testing for Covid-19 from today

Till now the Delhi government and private labs were conducting only Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR)-based molecular tests. Conducting rapid antibody tests across the city is likely to significantly improve Delhi’s record on testing Covid-19.

Delhi has received 42,000 Rapid Testing Kits (RTK) from the Central government and from Sunday these will be used to conduct random tests in the 76 containment zones of the city.

Rapid tests detect antibodies in the blood and indicate if a person has been infected in the past and has developed immunity to the virus. It can show results within 30 minutes, (PTI)

This is the first batch of Rapid Testing Kits that will be used in the national capital. Till now the government and private labs were conducting only Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR)-based molecular tests. Conducting rapid antibody tests across the city is likely to significantly improve Delhi’s record on testing Covid-19.

Unlike the RT-PCR test that detects the virus’s genetic material (RNA) in throat swabs to diagnose a Covid-19 infection, rapid tests detect antibodies in the blood and indicate if a person has been infected in the past and has developed immunity to the virus. It can show results within 30 minutes, the Delhi government said.

Till Saturday, a total of 22,283 RT-PCR tests were conducted in the city. “We have received 42,000 rapid testing kits from the Centre. Today (Saturday), all our technicians are being trained on how to use these kits, the precautions to be taken and other nuances. From tomorrow (Sunday), rapid testing will begin in the containment zones,” Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain told reporters on Saturday.

When asked which zones will be the first ones, Jain said that the rapid tests will be conducted in all the containment areas simultaneously.

Till 8pm on Saturday, five district magistrates told HT that they had received a communication from the health department that RTKs will be provided to them.

“But we have not been told how many kits we will get. No package has arrived so far,” said a district magistrate, on condition of anonymity.

A senior official in the health department said the number of kits allotted to every containment zone will be directly proportional to the Covid-19 cases detected in the area — higher the cases, higher the allotment.

Out of the 11 districts in Delhi, the south-east district has the highest number of containment zones at 17. The south-east district includes the Nizamuddin Markaz and surrounding areas and parts of East of Kailash, Shaheen Bagh, Tughlakabad, New Friends Colony, and so on.

On Saturday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) also issued a new rapid testing protocol under which states are allowed to use rapid testing kits wherever they want, including in Covid-19 containment zones and hot spots.

According to the new ICMR protocol, only those showing symptoms of influenza-like illness — such as fever, cough and cold — for seven or more days in hotspots should be made to undergo a rapid test. Those who are found positive in the rapid test must be quarantined for at least the next seven days. Those who test negative should also remain under home quarantine for at least seven days as they are in a hotspot.

Delhi, meanwhile, has also placed an order for an additional 50,000 RTKs through ICMR-approved vendors, but those are yet to arrive. these kits, too, are being imported from China.