The Delhi government is conducting aggressive testing to detect COVID-19 cases and 25-30 per cent of the daily infections are diagnosed through targeted testing in crowded places like railway stations and bus terminals, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Monday. In such crowded places, one person can infect around 50 others, he said.
Over the last few days, Delhi has reported record daily spikes in coronavirus cases. The national capital reported its biggest single-day jump of 7,745 cases on Sunday, taking its tally to 4,38,529. Jain told reporters that the Delhi government is conducting aggressive testing. Targeted testing is being conducted in crowded places like railway stations and inter-state bus terminals.
“Among those being tested, about 25-30 per cent of these cases are coming from targeted testing. In such crowded places, one person can infect around 50 other people,” he said. A senior health department official explained that the minister meant 25-30 per cent of the positive cases being recorded every day are detected in crowded places.
The Delhi government has significantly ramped up testing in the past few days, with the count crossing the 60,000-mark several times. It recently started conducting targeted testing in market places and other crowded areas to strengthen its surveillance mechanism. With the third wave of the pandemic hitting the national capital, the number of containment zones has also gone up.
According to a health department bulletin issued on Sunday, the number of containment zones in the capital stood at 3,878, up from 3,857 on Saturday. On Sunday, Jain had said the national capital has hit the peak of the third wave of COVID-19 and the number of cases suggests it has been the worst so far.
The positivity rate, which stood at 8.23 per cent on October 26, was 15.26 per cent on Sunday. The number of active COVID-19 cases was 41,857.
The number of tests done per million population was over 2.68 lakh, while the total number of tests stood at over 50 lakh. The National Centre for Disease Control, in a report drafted recently, had warned that Delhi needs to be prepared for about 15,000 fresh COVID-19 cases daily taking into account the upcoming winter season, related respiratory problems, large influx of patients from outside and festive gatherings.
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