Delhi government to open more antigen test centres

NEW DELHI: Delhi government has issued instructions to the local authorities in the districts to increase the number of Covid-19 tests in the wake of a Delhi high court order that has called the daily count "abysmal".
The city has six testing centres in North East district, eight each in East, Shahdara and New Delhi districts, 10 each in South and South East, 12 in West, 15 in Central, 21 in North West, 25 in North and 44 in South West district.These 167 centres have been opened mostly in mohalla clinics, government and municipal schools, and dispensaries to carry out rapid antigen tests to increase the base of testing, which is considered critical in the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.
A source said the number of antigen testing centres was likely to be increased in the districts with fewer centres. The government is yet to meet its target of 22,000 daily tests. The rapid antigen tests started in Delhi on Thursday when 7,040 people were tested.
Initially, the antigen tests are covering people living in the 262 containment zones as they are considered a high-risk group. Among the 11 districts, South West has the highest number of active red zones at 39, followed by North and South districts.
The use of rapid antigen detection test is part of an overall exercise to ramp up testing to ensure early detection of corona infections. The antigen kits give results within 15 to 30 minutes, enabling quicker identification of positive cases than RT-PCR whose results come in 24-48 hours.
A total of 16,952 tests, both antigen and RT-PCR, were conducted on Sunday compared to14,682 on Saturday. On Friday, 18,105 people were tested, stated the health bulletin of the government.