Delhi lines up ‘five-Ts’, CM Kejriwal invokes South Korea experience

“After consulting doctors and other experts, we have prepared a five-point plan, which are essentially five Ts. The first T is testing. Countries that did not undertake tests could not contain the spread of the virus. On the other hand, consider South Korea’s case, on how it got tests conducted at a mass scale,” he said.

“Carriers of the virus were identified so that they don’t infect others. If we don’t do that, we won’t even know who has contracted the virus. We were facing a shortage of testing kits; now the situation has improved. We had placed an order for 50,000 kits and have started receiving those. For rapid tests, we have ordered 1 lakh testing kits, which will start getting delivered from Friday,” Kejriwal said.

Read | Delhi govt chalks out plan for 30,000 cases: More beds, roping in hotels

Apart from Delhi, states such as Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have also placed orders for the kits with the ICMR as well as private vendors. A Delhi government spokesperson said the orders have been placed with an ICMR-approved vendor in Delhi’s case.

The ICMR had on Saturday issued an advisory saying that the rapid antibody test be undertaken at hotspots across the country. The test involves taking blood samples to ascertain if a person has developed antibodies against the virus. The presence of antibodies would mean the person is immune to the virus. The antibody test happens to be a faster alternative to the direct test, known as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), in which throat or nasal swabs are taken.

Express Interview | Even if lockdown eased, will need to be graded: COVID-19 panel head

Kejriwal said the rapid tests, for now, would be undertaken at the Nizamuddin and Dilshad Garden areas in the city. He added that direct tests would be conducted as well, but did not elaborate further. “We will aggressively test to identify, treat, trace, quarantine and seal, along the lines of South Korea,” he later tweeted.

Here’s a quick Coronavirus guide from Express Explained to keep you updated: What can cause a COVID-19 patient to relapse after recovery? | COVID-19 lockdown has cleaned up the air, but this may not be good news. Here’s why | Can alternative medicine work against the coronavirus? | A five-minute test for COVID-19 has been readied, India may get it too | How India is building up defence during lockdown | Why only a fraction of those with coronavirus suffer acutely | How do healthcare workers protect themselves from getting infected? | What does it take to set up isolation wards?