MillenniumPost
Delhi

Over 2.75L Covid tests in last 16 days

New Delhi: More than 45 per cent of the over 5.96 lakh COVID-19 tests in Delhi were conducted in the last 16 days after the Capital started testing through the rapid-antigen methodology in and around containment zones of the national capital from June 18. Since then a total of 2,75,396 tests through the RT-PCR (reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction) and rapid-antigen methods have been conducted in Delhi with around 17,000 tests per day.

Of this, around 1.5 lakh people have been tested through rapid-antigen kits, according to the Delhi government's health bulletins. Till June 18, health authorities conducted 3,21,302 tests for the disease using the "expensive but gold standard" RT-PCR method. The number of tests per day has also seen an around four-fold increase from 4,190 tests per day in the first week of June to 15,863 tests per day in the last week of the month.

On Friday alone, more than 24,000 tests - 10,577 RT-PCR tests and 13,588 rapid-antigen tests — were conducted in the city, a massive jump from 6,538 tests conducted a month ago on June 3. In the last one month, from June 3 to July 3, as many as 3.66 lakh people have been tested for COVID-19, which is 12,218 tests daily. As of Friday, a total of 5,96,698 tests have been conducted.

On Friday, the government expanded rapid-antigen testing, earlier limited to containment zones, to other areas in all 11 districts of the national capital. Now, state-run and private hospitals in the capital have also begun testing for COVID-19 using this method following a nod from the government.

According to health authorities, rapid-antigen testing is an easy and cheaper method as compared to the RT-PCR test. Each testing kit costs Rs 450 and can provide results within 30 minutes as compared to RT-PCR tests that take three to four hours. However, the reason RT-PCR tests are a "gold standard" is that it is the basic confirmatory test for Coronavirus and guidelines also stipulate that rapid antigen results should be confirmed with an RT-PCR test.

The antigen kits, called Standard Q COVID-19 Ag detection, have been developed by South Korean company SD Biosensor. The testing method involves looking for antibodies that are produced when the body is exposed to a pathogen. If a person has antibodies associated with novel coronavirus, it means the person is either COVID-19 positive or has had the disease at some point in the past. These tests are more useful to establish epidemiological paths of the virus.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, suspected individuals who test negative for COVID-19 in a rapid-antigen test should undergo RT-PCR for confirmation. While positive test results should be considered as true positive and do not need to be confirmed as RT-PCR tests need to be rationed. Rapid-antigen testing requires a prescription and an ICMR form filled by a registered doctor, and a government identity proof, same as that for RT-PCR test.

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