613 cases in Delhi on Monday, lowest in 2 months: Why more antigen than RT-PCR, asks HC

The bench was of the view that in light of the National Centre for Disease Control’s (NCDC) sero-survey report and the high rate of false negatives of RAT, “RT-PCR tests, whose numbers are plummeting, should be ramped up”.

It asked why RAT was being used as the frontline test, with RT-PCR being recommended for only those who are symptomatic. “…In such a scenario how can the Delhi government go with RAT as its front line test, when its rate of false negatives was very high, with RT-PCR being recommended for only those who were symptomatic,” it said.

The bench noted that the sero-survey in the national capital carried out by the NCDC indicated that more than 22.86 per cent of the population has been exposed to Covid without even realising as they were probably asymptomatic. It said while there were 54 labs, both public and private, in Delhi which are capable of carrying out 11,000 RT-PCR tests per day, between July 15 to July 23, the number of RT-PCR tests per day had not crossed 6,000. It said, “ICMR never said that RT-PCR, which is the gold standard test, be replaced with RAT.” The High Court also asked the Delhi government why a doctor’s prescription was required for undergoing Covid testing. It asked NCDC what its short-term recommendations were in light of the sero-survey report to tackle the infection.

The bench also asked the Delhi government to “strictly” follow the guidelines on Covid testing as issued by ICMR and not according to its own interpretation. The Delhi government’s standing counsel Satyakam told the bench the health department was strictly adhering to ICMR’s guidelines, which say that people testing negative for RAT but showing influenza like illness (ILI) have to undergo RT-PCR. The stand was opposed by advocate Rakesh Malhotra, who sought direction to the Delhi government for swift testing of Covid cases.

He told the bench that ICMR only said that persons showing ILI and testing negative in RAT have to go for RT-PCR, and this strategy was not applicable to those having severe acute respiratory illness (SARI). However, Delhi government has included SARI in its list of high-risk group individuals who have to first undergo RAT. ICMR, represented by central government standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia, told the bench that it had never recommended SARI for RAT and that it was not similar to ILI. Hearing this, the bench observed, “Why are you tweaking ICMR advisory? Why are you including SARI? Tell your clients (Delhi government) to strictly follow ICMR advisory. You cannot interpret on your own.”

On Monday, Delhi reported 613 new cases in the last 24 hours- the lowest daily increase in the last two months. The total cases surged to 1,31,219 while the death toll rose to 3853 with 26 more fatalities reported Monday. For over a week, the number of RT PCR tests have been around 5000, however, it dropped down significantly on Monday to 3,821 tests.