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With COVID 19 cases rising in Delhi and with the testing capacity still low, it is critical to define who has priority in being tested. In this, the Delhi High Court has been hearing a case in which a plea has been filed, seeking direction from the court that test results of pregnant women be given priority.
Petitioner Vaibhav Agnihotri said in an affidavit that while states have said that rapid antigen testing will be done for pregnant women also, their notification doesn’t say that. This creates a problem.
Further, it was said by Raj Kumar, a resident of Arthala near Mohan Nagar, had to take his eight-month pregnant wife in a cab to the sampling centre at IMS College, Dasna, despite Sanjay Nagar hospital being closer.
The reason: Ghaziabad district’s only major sampling centre has been relocated to Dasna, which is on the city’s outskirts, spelling trouble for all pregnant women who have to get their sampling for Covid-19 done mandatorily.
“We had so far been consulting a private doctor in Sahibabad for her treatment. The doctor advised us to get a Covid-19 test done, so we came to the sampling centre at Dasna. It is very hard to travel in scorching heat and not at all possible if you do not hire a cab. It is about 16 km away from my house. A number of pregnant women, I am told, can be spotted standing in queue for hours daily to get their sampling done, before delivery,” Kumar said.
“Although my wife has no symptoms but the doctor told us that a COVID test is mandatory before she delivers. We came here on Wednesday noon and waited for over an hour to get her sampling done. We found that about 15 other women were in queue with us. It is very difficult for women to come here in peak summer and get their tests done after a long wait,” he added.
The bench asked the Delhi government to place the advisory and notification before it and listed the matter for hearing on Thursday, July 9.
The HC also asked whether the negative outcome of a rapid test was acceptable or whether an RT/PCR test result was also required before admission. The Delhi government counsel sought time to take instructions on the query raised by the bench. The court was hearing a PIL by a lawyer who has sought that test results of pregnant women be given priority.
The HC on June 22 had remarked that 5-7 days cannot be taken for getting COVID-19 results for pregnant women prior to admitting them in hospitals for child-birth and asked the ICMR and Delhi government to look at expediting it.
As there can be no rapid testing also it can give wrong results and many more issues in it now the meeting has been resumed and it will on the next hearing date.
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