With the number of Coronavirus cases inching closer to the 50,000-mark, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday assured people that testing will be ramped up further in the coming days.
“Delhi residents will not have any problem in getting tested for coronavirus. In the coming days, much more testing will be done,” tweeted Kejriwal.
He made the remarks by quoting another tweet, which stated that as many as 20,000 samples were tested in the national capital on Thursday.
This came a day after rapid antigen testing commenced in the containment zones across the city.
The rapid antigen testing method involves looking for antibodies which are produced when the body is exposed to a pathogen.
A total of 7,040 people were tested by this methodology, out of which 456 tested positive, the Aam Aadmi Party government said.
On Thursday evening, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said that testing was conducted at 193 centres and that people living in containment zones were being tested in the initial stage.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases inched closer to 50,000-mark on Friday, with 1,969 deaths. Delhi has 49,979 cases out of which over 21,341 people have recovered.
At an all-party meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs over the management of Coronavirus situation in Delhi on Monday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that by June 20, Delhi government will start conducting 18,000 COVID-19 tests per day.
Further, Shah assured that everyone will have the right to testing. Amit Shah’s has also reportedly approved BJP’s demand to waive 50 per cent charges on testing.
On Sunday, Amit Shah in a meeting with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, had said that testing for COVID-19 will be doubled in the next couple of days in Delhi and in 6 days it will be increased to three times of the current rate.