Delhi: 9 in 10 people with Covid symptoms missing from official data

The survey further said that 9 in 10 Delhi NCR residents with symptoms are missing from officially reported case figures as they skip taking the Covid test or opt for at-home antigen test. The survey found that of those who had Covid symptoms in Delhi-NCR in the last 30 days, only 12% took a RT-PCR. 

The survey was conducted in the past 30 days. A questionnaire was given to people as part of the survey which received 10,821 responses. While 67 per cent respondents were men, 33 per cent were women, it said in a statement.

Some of the questions in the survey included — ‘In the last one month when you or family members in Delhi-NCR had some symptoms and needed a Covid test (non-travel), and what type of test did you undertake?’ In response to this question, none of the respondents said only RT-PCR, it said.

The survey has revealed that 33% of those with symptoms had taken a RT-PCR in April and that dropped to 16% in June and 12% in August. 

While 25 per cent of the respondents said they opted for Rapid Antigen Test, response of 12 per cent was ‘both RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Test’, it said.

However, 63 per cent of residents said they took none of these tests despite having symptoms, LocalCircles said in the statement.

The study’s results comes at a time when Covid cases in Delhi have risen significantly in the last one week or so.

Delhi on Sunday reported 2,423 fresh Covid-19 cases with a positivity rate of 14.97%, the highest since January 22, while two more people died due to the viral disease, according to health department data.

On January 22, the positivity rate was 16.4%.

It was the fifth consecutive day when the daily case count has remained above 2,000. The positivity rate on Sunday had remained above 10 per cent for seven straight days.

The national capital on February 3 had recorded 2,668 cases and 13 fatalities.

“The community feedback indicates that two among three people are either just not getting tested and taking treatment based on symptoms, and about one thirds are taking at-home rapid antigen test.

“Of this, 37 per cent who are taking the at-home rapid antigen test, 12 per cent are re-validating it with an RT-PCR test,” the statement said. 

The survey also pointed out that the factors that have emerged in the survey highlight an urgent need for authorities of Delhi and NCR cities and the Union Health Ministry to find alternate ways of tracking the extent and spread of Covid. 

Lower number of RT-PCR tests also indicate availability of fewer samples for genome testing to understand what variants are circulating in India. With only 10% of those with symptoms in Delhi-NCR, the genome testing will not have visibility of 9 of the 10 samples. 

“If the same testing rates are assumed for the rest of the country, the big risk is inability to track the pandemic and finding out about a new variant only when hospital admissions start rising. By then, it may be too late,” the survey read. 

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