COVID-19: Delhi HC says people voluntarily seeking RT-PCR test won't require prescription

Three days after the Centre permitted on-demand COVID-19 testing, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed that the people voluntarily seeking RT-PCR test to detect COVID-19 will not require doctor's prescription for the same and that they can walk-in for a test with an Aadhaar card having a Delhi address.

The decision announced by the Centre on Saturday came after the recommendations of the National Task Force on the novel coronavirus.

The petition filed by advocate Rakesh Malhotra sought directions to conduct large scale rapid testing in the national capital for identifying the infected people. A division bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad said that people seeking COVID-19 testing will be required to produce their Aadhaar card having a Delhi address and fill an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) form for the testing.

Further, in a bid to increase testing, the bench directed private labs to give preference to the samples sent by the Delhi government as the government plans to conduct around 12,000 RT-PCR tests in a day. It also asked private labs to facilitate around 2,000 tests for the asymptomatic patients per day.

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India Introduces 'on-demand' Testing Without Prescription

As per the official statement, individuals who wish to get tested and those undertaking travel to countries/Indian states mandating a negative COVID-19 test at the point of entry can get an "on-demand" test. The ministry said that the new advisory has further simplified the testing process and given more freedom and flexibilities to the State authorities to facilitate enhanced ease of testing for the people.

"For the first time, along with more simplified modalities, the updated guidelines provide for 'On-demand' testing in order to ensure higher levels of testing. A totally new section has been added in the advisory on 'testing on demand' which for all practical purposes does away with prescription by a registered medical practitioner although state governments have the freedom to decide on simplified modalities," read the release.

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COVID in Delhi

 The national capital recorded 2,077 fresh COVID-19 cases on Monday, taking the tally to over 1.93 lakh, while the death toll mounted to 4,599, authorities said. Thirty-two fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours, according to the Delhi government's latest health bulletin.

The bulletin said 7,804 RTPCR/CBNAAT/TrueNat tests and 15,150 rapid antigen tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.

READ: COVID-19: India introduces 'on-demand' testing without prescription

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(With Inputs from ANI)