Covid-19: 10 states, 1 UT to allow rapid antigen tests

NEW DELHI: After a nudge from the Centre to scale up testing for Covid-19, ten high case-load states and a union territory are set to introduce rapid antigen tests which give “highly specific” results in 30 minutes.

After Delhi and Maharashtra, states of Telangana, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Assam, West Bengal, Karnataka and the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir will deploy the rapid antigen testing kits in containment zones, according to sources.

The testing, which has very high specificity, will help the states in scaling up testing the way Delhi and Maharashtra have. While Delhi has purchased 1million testing kits for the purpose, Maharashtra has acquired 500,000 testing kits, Assam 200,000, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Haryana 100,000 each, and Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir 50,000 each. Punjab, West Bengal and Karnataka have also acquired the testing kits and will start conducting tests this week.

Telangana, which has the highest rate of new positive cases but low testing numbers, has also decided to acquire rapid antigen testing kits to scale up testing on Saturday. The state is likely to buy 100,000 kits for this.

Earlier, Telangana health minister Eatala Rajender had told ET that “we have decided to test more and more. Our numbers would now increase to 50,000 soon”.

All the states which are now acquiring the rapid antigen testing kits are in the top 20 in terms of Covid-19 caseload. Apart from Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, almost all states in the top 20 have decided to deploy rapid antigen testing with RT-PCR kit, which is considered the gold standard for Covid-19 diagnosis. In case a rapid antigen test gives a negative result, RT-PCR test is conducted as a confirmatory diagnosis.

The rapid antigen test would help the states in tracing asymptomatic Covid-19 cases. “Delhi’s testing results with rapid antigen kits have shown that the testing kit is highly effective in tracing asymptomatic cases. This helps in contact tracing also,” said a health ministry official.