AAP govt frittering away RT/PCR testing capacity when COVID +ve averaging b/w 3,500-4,000: HC

"In other words, though Delhi has the capacity of conducting 15,000 tests per day through RT/PCR mode, 4,000 RT/PCR tests per day are being frittered away unutilized, which does not make any sense when cases of COVID-19 infection during the period between September 14 to 27, remain in the range of 3500-4000 cases per day.," the court said.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday criticised the AAP government for "frittering away" a part of its RT-PCR testing capacity, saying its numbers were "abysmally low" when the number of coronavirus positive cases were averaging around 3,500-4,000 per day. The high court said that while the Delhi government had a testing capacity of 15,000 RT/PCR tests per day, around 4,000 of it was being unutilized.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad said that this indicated that despite the court's emphasis on ramping up RT/PCR tests in the national capital, "it has not activated the Delhi government adequately". The bench further said that while the number of tests by rapid antigen method (RAT), from September 14 to September 27, was 45,212, the tests by RT/PCR and other modes during the same period averaged around 10,280 which was "abysmally low" and "pathetic".

"As against the testing capacity of 15,000 through RT/PCR and other similar tests (like CBNAAT and TrueNAT) per day available in Delhi, the actual number of testing being conducted through this mode is still floating around 11,000 tests per day on an average. "In other words, though Delhi has the capacity of conducting 15,000 tests per day through RT/PCR mode, 4,000 RT/PCR tests per day are being frittered away unutilized, which does not make any sense when cases of COVID-19 infection during the period between September 14 to 27, remain in the range of 3500-4000 cases per day.," the court said. RT/PCR, short for Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction, is a laboratory technique widely used in the diagnosis of genetic diseases and to measure gene expression in research.

Cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT) is a recently introduced polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based method for detection of TB. TrueNat is an indigenously developed portable version of CBNAAT and was also meant for detecting tuberculosis (TB). The Delhi government, represented by Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain and additional standing counsel Satyakam, said the expert committee, constituted by the Lt Governor, was actively involved in re-strategizing the testing capacity as also reviewing the overall strategy required to be followed and sought more time to await its recommendations.

Taking note of the submission, the bench listed the matter for further hearing on October 7. The court also took note of the various steps taken by the Delhi government to streamline testing in the national capital.

One of the steps taken by the Delhi government, according to its status report, was to issue an office order on September 22 which does not place any pre-conditions for self-testing for COVID-19 infection. The status report also said that Geospatial Delhi Limited has created a map of the 320 testing sites in the national capital and the same has been shared with Delhi Metro for being displayed at all permanent locations and sites at all the metro stations. The map has also been sent to the Delhi State Mission and uploaded on various websites of the Delhi government, the status report said.

The Delhi government also told the bench that the expert committee, set up by the LG, was actively considering providing access to COVID-19 testing through Mohalla clinics and community centres, but no final decision on the way forward for capacity building and ramping up the overall testing strategy in Delhi has been taken. The high court was hearing a PIL by advocate Rakesh Malhotra seeking increasing the COVID-19 testing numbers in the national capital and getting speedy results.

The bench on the last date of hearing, September 16, had asked the Delhi government to increase the RT-PCR test capacity to the maximum possible to detect COVID-19 infection, as RATs were only 60 per cent accurate..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)