Jain says daily tests 3 times what ICMR recommended

New Delhi: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Sunday sought to allay concerns over "fewer" Covid tests being conducted in the national capital, saying the city is conducting three times more diagnostic tests than the number recommended by the ICMR even as slightly fewer tests were conducted on Saturday compared to the day before.

The Capital reported 18,286 fresh Covid-19 cases among the tests conducted on Saturday and 28 more deaths from the virus in the same time period. However, the daily positivity rate showed a significant dip from over 30 per cent to 27.87 per cent.

Insisting that all those who need to be tested are being tested, the Health Minister said the new testing guidelines issued by the Centre had been directed after thoughtful consideration.

According to the Centre's new guidelines, asymptomatic patients do not need to undergo a test. Also, contacts of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients need not get tested unless they have comorbidities or are aged above 60.

"Delhi has been conducting 60,000 to 1 lakh tests every day," he said. The city is conducting three times more Covid tests than the number recommended by the Indian Council of Medical Research, he added.

Delhi conducted 67,624 tests on Friday and 79,578 on Thursday and nearly 1 lakh the day before.

On Thursday, the national capital reported 28,867 COVID-19 cases, the sharpest single-day spike since the outbreak in the Capital, after 98,832 tests were conducted the day before.

"Hospital admissions have plateaued and Covid positivity rate will also come down. Restrictions by the Delhi government have impacted the spread of COVID-19. We will monitor the situation for three to four days before reviewing the curbs," Jain said.

The minister said daily cases have decreased over the last three days. Delhi is in a good shape at large, and the government is prepared to deal with even the most serious situations.

Active cases in the city are now at 89,819 — lower than a day before and 21,846 either beat the disease or were discharged on Saturday. The death toll from the virus continued to rise as 28 more deaths were reported in Sunday's Health Bulletin.

Even as the positivity rate continued to rise to above 30 per cent a few days ago when the fresh cases reported had gone to the highest they had ever gone since the beginning of the pandemic, the hospitalisation rate and deaths this wave have been lower than recorded in the Second wave, early last year.

Health Minister Satyendar Jain has said that 90 per cent of the Covid deaths reported this year were of people who were ailing from other severe illnesses such as cancer, kidney ailments and other severe comorbidities. In fact, he said that even the seven children who succumbed between January 9 and 12 after testing positive had chronic illnesses. He added that 75 per cent of them were not vaccinated.