Rapid antigen tests now make up nearly half of daily checks

The total number of Covid-19 tests carried out in India crossed the 2-crore mark on Sunday

Updated On Aug 4, 2020 at 06:03 AM IST

Sushmi.Dey

New Delhi: The total number of Covid-19 tests carried out in India crossed the 2-crore mark on Sunday, powered by a rising proportion of the faster and cheaper rapid antigen tests (RAT) in its daily volume of testing.

The increased use of RAT has helped the government ramp up testing for early detection of infected cases, though ICMR is analysing concerns that it may throw up a large number of false negatives. While the number of daily Covid tests nearly doubled in July, the share of RAT went up to 40-46% by the end of July, against 4-8% in its first week.