Delhi High Court calls for ramping up testing rates

NEW DELHI:  The Delhi High Court on Wednesday called for a concentrated focus on ramping up laboratory testing for COVID-19 in the national capital as 1,300- odd cases are still being reported daily.

A bench of justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad asked whether adequate arrangements have been made by the Delhi government at the borders and other places, where industries or construction sites exist in the national capital, for large scale testing to detect COVID-19 cases and for segregating them without causing any inconvenience.

The bench directed the Delhi government to file a detailed status report on this aspect. The court said it was a matter of “great concern” that though the number of COVID- 19 cases were expected to climb down gradually or at least remain stable below 1,000 per day in August, 2020, the daily coronavirus cases have not steadily reduced in Delhi.

It noted that the number of cases that had touched 707, 652 and 787 on August 10, August 16 and August 17 respectively, shot up to 1,374 on August 18.