In a review meeting with the Union Health Ministry, Delhi government officials have highlighted the delay in test results, which is thwarting containment measures in the city that has one of the highest caseloads in the country. On Tuesday, 206 fresh COVID-19 cases were reported, taking the total count to 3,314. The death toll remains 54, with no death reported for the third consecutive day. Around 7.5% of the total samples sent for testing are pending with government and private labs in Delhi, stated the report prepared by the Delhi government Tuesday afternoon. According to sources, senior health officials raised concerns over pending results, especially from the containment zones. There are 101 containment zones, and 6,972 samples have been sent for testing so far. On Tuesday, the government did not give an update on the total positive cases from these areas, but till Monday, 273 of the 5,438 samples tested were positive. “At times, it takes around five-six days for the test results. The containment zones are already hotspots and a delay of five days creates trouble for us to trace contacts. In those days, the suspected patient might have transmitted it to several others. We have requested the Health Minister to put more focus towards cases in the city. At least the test results of those in containment zones should be provided at the earliest,” said a senior health official who attended the meeting. As per the report shared by officials with the Ministry on Tuesday afternoon, the highest number of containment zones are in the Southeast district. The testing rate till Tuesday afternoon in Delhi is 1,726 per million population. Of the total positive cases, the highest, 895, were reported from New Delhi district. Pendency of results at the National Institute of Virology in Noida came up repeatedly during the review meeting, with district magistrates pointing out that delayed results mean containment measures suffer as contact tracing can only begin once a person has been confirmed as positive. “One major point for the spurt in cases that was highlighted is that test reports from the central high-risk hotspots are stuck in NIV, Noida, since April 16 — around 200 test results are pending since then. They highlighted the need to get results in 24 hours. Earlier, officials said about 1,000 reports were delivered in 24 hours. But that has really slowed down,” said a source at the meeting. While states like West Bengal have resented the visits of inter-ministerial teams from the Centre, the Delhi government has sought an IMCT visit to identify gaps and suggest focussed intervention, sources said. The South Delhi district magistrate too highlighted testing delays and expressed concerns about the possibility of people who have recovered having spread the disease during their illness and not having been diagnosed. The western zone deputy commissioner also flagged delayed testing. “He said about 100 test results are awaited,” said a source. Senior officials said the idea to ramp up testing facilities in the city was discussed. During the presentation, officials were also pulled up for not being able to update the patient’s medical journey. As per data shared by the health department at the meeting, in about 98.96% of cases, information about the patient outcome is left blank. “A meeting was also held after this to discuss issues faced by officers in data compilation,” said another official.Aq
