Centre-allotted labs taking more than 24 hours in providing COVID-19 test reports: Satyendar Jain

NEW DELHI:  Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday said that the Delhi government is going to propose to the Centre and ICMR to allow labs to conduct 10 per cent fewer tests than their total capacity.

The proposal has been taken to avoid delay, resulting in a higher turnaround rate. Jain said that Delhi is optimally utilising both private and government labs, but there is a need for additional support as promised by the Centre. 

“The labs are functioning at full capacity. We issued strict orders yesterday to ensure that the turnaround period is 24 hours. When they conduct tests equivalent to their capacity, it results in a delay. We will be taking up this issue with ICMR and the Central government.

"We will suggest labs be allowed to conduct 10 per cent fewer tests than their total capacity, so that there is a higher turnaround rate. Delhi is optimally utilising both private and government labs, but there is need for additional support in terms of labs as promised by the Central government to ensure that the reports are issued within 24 hours,” said Jain.

On Monday, the Delhi government slashed the price of RT-PCR testing to Rs 800 for lab visit and Rs 1,200 for home sample collection, down from the previous fee of Rs 2,400. In a statement, the government said that it had been promised by the Central government to provide additional support for testing to ensure that there is no delay in the availability of reports. 

The death rate was 1.61 per cent owing to pollution levels due to stubble burning which was also a major contributor to the declining health of citizens, the health department. “We have to see the moving average and not take into consideration the daily statistics. At present, 1.61 per cent is the death ratio. During winters, pollution levels in Delhi due to the stubble burning in neighbouring states was the reason behind the declining health of citizens. Due to that very reason, we saw an increase in hospital admissions,” the health minister added.