E-Paper
36% of Pune district’s Covid tests conducted using RAT method
PUNE As per data compiled by the district collector’s office, of the 2
PUNE As per data compiled by the district collector’s office, of the 2.839 million Covid19 tests conducted in the district, 36% have been done through Rapid the Antigen Test (RAT) method, in spite of the state government’s recommendation to maintain a 75%-25% ratio between RT-PCR and RAT test. This recommendation came in December 2020.
Despite having the highest per million testing numbers in the nation, the higher proportion of RAT tests in the district raises questions about the effectiveness of the ongoing tests. RAT tests are often known to report false negatives.
The state had also recommended an increase in the proportion of RT-PCR tests.
The RT-PCR testing proportion must be increased gradually from 65% as of December to 75% as of February 2021, the state had said.
As per data compiled until March 29, of 28,114 samples that tested negative through RAT, 3,592 or 13% were followed up by RT-PCR tests as they were symptomatic samples.
The district conducts 1,43,348 tests per million, which it claims is the highest in the country. Maharashtra tests 71,971 tests per million and India’s average is 88,936 tests per million.
Of the 2.839 million tests, 1.449 million tests were done by PMC, 0.783 million tests were done by PCMC and 0.606 million tests were done by the Zilla Parishad.
The district collector Rajesh Deshmukh in his presentation to the chief secretary stated that Pune needs to increase its RT-PCR testing capacity as NIV and other Central government labs have reduced their RTPCR tests for the district.
