Just 2% of migrants returning to Delhi test +ve

NEW DELHI: Migrant workers returning to the capital have shown a low rate of infection with the Covid positive percentage at each of the nine entry points into the city ranging from 1% to 8%. Delhi government has set up testing facilities at Anand Vihar ISBT, Nizamuddin, New Delhi and Delhi Junction Railway Stations, among nine other entry points, which witness a high footfall. The workers are mainly from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, said officials.

An official report seen by TOI showed the overall prevalence of infection at the nine entry points to be slightly above 2% with 551 out of 23,565 people being found Covid-positive.

Anand Vihar ISBT, which is on the east Delhi border, has been witnessing the most activity with hundreds of migrant workers returning to the capital in buses every morning. However, it was found that social distancing norms and Covid-19 guidelines were rarely being followed in the buses. Though travelling by private buses costs more than the usual rates, the poor workers have no choice but to return to the city compelled by the urgency to feed their family members back home.

When the herds of migrant workers started entering the city, it attracted the attention of the authorities. Since they live in groups and cannot afford social distancing, one infected person can pass on the viral illness to everyone there.

Till date, over 16,500 people have been tested at Anand Vihar ISBT. “Most of them appear to be migrant workers, but we are focusing on testing each person at the entry point,” said an official. All the tests are conducted with rapid antigen kits, which give results within 15 to 30 minutes.

Among 371 people tested at Sarai Kale Khan ISBT, only 21 were found positive. At Nizamuddin Railway Station, 59 of 1,459 people tested positive. The number was slightly higher at Shahdara bus terminal with 85 out of 1,017 testing positive.

There was a much lower prevalence of infection in those travelling by train. Among the 2,564 people tested at New Delhi Railway Station, only 23 (less than 1%) were found positive. At Kashmere Gate ISBT, the positivity rate was 1.9% as 14 of 730 people were found infected.

West district surveillance officer Dr Neeraj Roy said, “The low prevalence of positivity rate among migrant workers and the poor indicates that their immunity is stronger compared with the middle-class population.”

Thousands of migrant workers had left the capital when the lockdown was imposed on March 25. They were now returning due to lack of sources of income in their respective states.