Private labs welcome Delhi’s on-demand testing approach

A Delhi government order on Wednesday said that as part of its measures to augment Covid-19 testing in the city-state and to make it more accessible, people walking into a lab will not be required to produce a doctor’s prescription.

Owners of private laboratories have welcomed Delhi’s new testing strategy, which allows walk-in testing for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) without the need of a doctor’s prescription.

Health workers gear up to collect swab samples for coronavirus testing at Janakpuri in New Delhi. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

“It is a welcome move, as it will make tests more accessible to people, who will now not need a medical consultation that adds to the cost of the test and poses a challenge for people who physically need to go to a doctor,” said Dr Navin Dang, founder of Dr Dang’s Lab.

A Delhi government order on Wednesday said that as part of its measures to augment Covid-19 testing in the city-state and to make it more accessible, people walking into a lab will not be required to produce a doctor’s prescription.

“Tests will be conducted in accordance with the strategy/ advisory by the Indian Council of Medical Research and as per orders issued by the govt of NCT {National Capital Territory} of Delhi,” the order said.

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The order, however, is not clear on whether it is applicable for patients who do not have a Delhi ID card, lab owners said.

“The Delhi high court order from a couple of days ago about the testing strategy had directed that there would be no need for prescriptions for patients with a Delhi Aadhar card. But Delhi being a major port there are people from other places who come here and get tested prior to boarding their flights. The Delhi government order is not clear about whether there is a need for a doctor’s prescription for such people. This is likely to get resolved in a couple of days,” said Dr Vidur Mahajan, associate director of Mahajan Imaging.

Another laboratory owner also said the ICMR app where a patient’s details have to be uploaded hasn’t been updated yet. “It still does not show the category of testing on demand and asks for a doctor’s prescription for asymptomatic people,” the person said on condition of anonymity.

The ICMR guidelines were released on September 4.

It’s too early to say whether there is an increase in the number of tests on demand, laboratories said.

“It is too soon to say if there has been an increase in the number of tests on persons on demand or for travel. Or even if there has been an increase in queries in such a short period,” said a spokesperson from Dr Lal Pathlabs, the largest private testing chain in Delhi.

“We have received many calls for testing without prescription since the ICMR advisory was released (on Monday), however we had to refuse patients then because there was no order from the Delhi government till last night. It has only been a day since the Delhi government order came so it is not possible to say whether there has been an increase in testing because of this move,” said Sanjeev Vashistha, managing director of Pathkind Diagnostics.

Another lab owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “People have to be socially responsible. There are many requests coming in from people between the ages of 20 and 30 who have gone to some party and want to get tested or some women from the upper income groups who are meeting their friends or going out for parties and want to get tested afterwards. People need to remember that they still need to be socially responsible and take all precautions to prevent the spread of the infection.”

The number of RT-PCR tests, however, registered dip in Delhi a day after the government adopted the revised testing strategy for Covid-19 testing on Wednesday.