The Centre on Friday asked states and Union Territories to ramp up rapid antigen tests in situations where administering RT-PCR, or real time polymerase chain reaction tests, poses challenges.
The government noted that RT-PCR tests take five to eight hours to produce the results, which can lead to delays.
A joint letter by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and Indian Council of Medical Research chief Balram Bhargava on Friday advised states to set up multiple booths for rapid antigen tests on a 24/7 basis. The officials also asked states to permit such testing at government and private hospitals, including all districts hospitals and primary healthcare centres.
“No accreditation is required for undertaking rapid antigen testing by any healthcare facility,” the letter added.
Outside laboratory settings, rapid antigen testing is a quick and cheap way to diagnose Covid-19. The test detects proteins on the viral surface and takes just 15-20 minutes to produce results. However, its sensitivity to detect SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, ranges from 50%-84%, which is significantly lower than that of RT-PCR tests.
The government on Friday also encouraged use of self-test kits for symptomatic individuals. “Seven such home testing kits have been approved so far and two of them are also available on GeM [Government e Marketplace],” the letter said.
A self-test gives results within 15-30 minutes. Most self-testing kits employ rapid antigen testing, in which a nasal swab sample is taken and tested to detect proteins which are present on the virus surface.
In their letter, the health officials also reiterated that anyone with fever, headache, sore throat, breathlessness, body ache, loss of taste or smell, fatigue, and diarrhea should be considered as a suspected case of coronavirus amid the surge of daily infections.
All those with symptoms should “immediately isolate themselves and follow home isolation guidelines”, the letter said.
The Centre’s advice comes amid a sudden rise in coronavirus cases in India after several months of relatively low numbers. Experts have said that this may be the beginning of a third wave of the pandemic in the country.
The latest surge is steep and is growing faster than the previous two waves, data shows.
Also read:
- Explainer: Why home Covid test kits are useful – but not yet popular in India
- In charts: Covid-19 cases surge across four metro cities, growing faster than previous waves
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