Amit Shah suggests UP, Haryana to use rapid kits to bolster testing in NCR; early hospitalisation

NEW DELHI: In pursuance of his call for a unified strategy for Delhi NCR in the fight against Covid-19, home minister Amit Shah on Thursday stressed on the need to reduce infection transmission rate in the entire region by conducting more testing via rapid antigen kits, which could be provided by the Centre to UP and Haryana, in addition to Delhi that has already been given sufficient kits.
At a review meeting on Covid-19 situation and containment strategies chaired by Shah and attended by Union health minister Harsh Vardhan, with the chief ministers of Delhi, UP and Haryana joining via video-conference, the home minister said that adoption of more testing via rapid antigen test kits would help in reducing infection transmission rate below 10%, as suggested by World Health Organization. Stating that nearly 90 per cent of screening was possible through these kits, he offered to provide these kits to UP and Haryana as per numbers desired by them.
Keen on ensuring that human lives, especially of the poor and needy, were saved, Shah asked the Delhi NCR authorities to focus on early hospitalisation of patients, so that the mortality rate can also be reduced. It has been seen that many Covid-19 patients who died in Delhi had succumbed within hours or a couple of days after they were brought to the hospital, pointing to a link between their deaths and delay in their getting proper medical attention.
Shah stressed on the wide use of Arogya Setu and Itihas applications to help in Covid-19 mapping in the NCR.
Importantly, as part of extending facilities to entire NCR region – covering Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon, etc – on par with those offered to Delhi, the home minister said the AIIMS Delhi telemedicine consultation model being used in Delhi for Covid patients should be replicated in UP and Haryana as well. He suggested that UP and Haryana join AIIMS-telemedicine COVID consultation through which patients can get advice by expert doctors. The training for doctors in small hospitals in UP and Haryana can be provided by AIIMS with the help of tele-videography, he added.
NITI Aayog member V K Paul, who had earlier prepared a report on revised containment strategies for Delhi, gave a presentation at the meeting on the strategy for tackling Covid-19 in NCR. He provided details of best practices adopted in Delhi-NCR and the way ahead.