50 rapid antigen detection tests conducted in city, 100 tests in Gandhi Nagar today

“All the 50 antigen tests conducted at the malaria office in Jacobpura, Sadar Bazar, on Wednesday were negative. Of those tested, four had Influenza Like Illness (ILI) based on which the team collected their nasal and throat swabs for RT-PCR,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer.

Gurugram finally rolled out the rapid antigen tests, with the first batch of 50 people getting tested with the new kits in Sadar Bazar area on Wednesday. The plan, health officials said, was to conduct 100 tests in Gandhi Nagar area on Thursdays.

The district’s health department till Tuesday had received 8,000 rapid antigen kits — which can deliver Covid-19 result within 15-30 minutes. (Parveen Kumar/HT file photo)

“All the 50 antigen tests conducted at the malaria office in Jacobpura, Sadar Bazar, on Wednesday were negative. Of those tested, four had Influenza Like Illness (ILI) based on which the team collected their nasal and throat swabs for RT-PCR,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer.

Approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), these tests look for specific protein associated with the Sars-Cov-2 virus, the pathogen that causes Covid-19.

The state health department has already placed an order for 100,000 kits.

People who were tested included contacts of Covid-19 patients.

The new rapid antigen test, developed by a South Korean company and manufactured in Manesar, is highly specific (99.3% to 100%) — meaning a positive result on the test is a “true positive” and does not need any confirmatory test.

The sensitivity is between 50.6% to 84% depending on the viral load, meaning those who test negative might still have the infection and are advised to go for a test through the more reliable RT-PCR method if they show symptoms of the disease.

Yadav said that if a person tests positive for coronavirus, they will be referred home isolation or immediately hospitalized based on the symptoms.

“On Thursday, the rapid test numbers will be increased to 100 and it will be done in Gandhi Nagar area of the city,” he said.

According to Yadav, to observe the trend of Covid-19 spread in the city, the antigen detection test will be done in different pockets of Gurugram . “Based on the test analysis, the department later will figure out a plan on how to go about with conducting more tests on a daily basis. Already, a serological survey to study community transmission of the virus has been launched. Routine RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) — often considered the gold standard in front-line testing for Covid-19 —tests will continue simultaneously,” said Yadav.

The district’s health department till Tuesday had received 8,000 rapid antigen kits — which can deliver Covid-19 result within 15-30 minutes.

Yadav said that the kits will be used in areas that are witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases. As per data, the most affected areas in Gurugram city at the moment are Chanderlok with 290 cases, Gandhi Colony having 190 Covid-19 cases, Tigra with 226 cases and Patel Nagar with 181 cases.

To conduct antigen tests, which require safety precautions similar to RT-PCR tests, the department has trained at least seven lab technicians. The plan is to deploy Ayush doctors too. “Nineteen doctors from the Ayush department will be roped in to help the team conducting the antigen tests. They will be involved in contact tracing and finding suspected cases who require testing and also to determine whether a positive patient should be home isolated or hospitalised,” said Yadav.

Last week, during a review meeting with Union home affairs minister Amit Shah on Covid-19 management in Delhi-NCR, Haryana was directed to use the antigen detection tests widely to cover more people.