ICMR Needs to Change Guidelines for Covid-19 Testing to Increase, Says Delhi Health Min Satyendra Jain

A day after the Supreme Court expressed concern over fewer coronavirus tests in the national capital, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday put the onus on the ICMR, saying its guidelines should be changed for the testing to increase.

Facing flak after a video purportedly showing mishandling of bodies and patients at the LNJP hospital surfaced, Jain said a contractual employee, who made the video, has been suspended.

"A contractual employee who made the video was motivated and did it on purpose. The person has been suspended," Jain told reporters here.

Taking note of the reports of ?horrific scenes? of bodies being stacked next to coronavirus patients at Delhi's COVID-19 dedicated LNJP hospital , the Supreme Court had said on Friday that it indicated the ?sorry state of affairs? in government facilities.

The top court had also directed chief secretaries of the NCT and other states to take "remedial action" ensuring proper management of patients at hospitals.

The Supreme Court had also wondered about the fewer COVID tests being conducted in Delhi and asked the government to ensure that there should be a ?steep increase in the testing both by Government hospitals and private labs? as ?non-testing of the patients is not a solution to the problem?.

Asked about it, Jain said that the Delhi government is following the guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

"If you want the number of tests conducted for coronavirus to increase, ask the Indian Council of Medical Research to change its guidelines. We cannot flout ICMR guidelines," he said.

The Delhi government had last week issued testing guidelines making it mandatory that only symptomatic patients will be tested for COVID-19, but the Lieutenant Governor had overruled it on Monday stressing that ICMR guidelines testing of contacts of patients be followed ?without any deviation?.

With 2,137 fresh instances, the total number of coronavirus cases rose to 36,824 in Delhi, the health department''s bulletin said on Friday. Seventy-one deaths were reported as the toll reached 1,214.