Haryana receives 10,000 rapid antibody testing kits; Gurugram, Palwal and Nuh to benefit

Haryana received 10,000 rapid antibody testing kits from the central government on Friday. The state health department said they were likely to begin testing blood

Haryana received 10,000 rapid antibody testing kits from the central government on Friday. The state health department said they were likely to begin testing blood samples of suspected cases in Gurugram from Sunday.

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State officials said that as per their plans, the kits will be deployed in hotspots as a useful surveillance tool.

Rajeev Arora, additional chief secretary, health department, said, “Gurugram, Nuh, Hathin (Palwal) are the affected Covid-19 districts where the kits will be distributed in the first place. We will be testing frontline workers in healthcare, sanitation and police department on priority.”

The test will involve collecting blood samples to check whether the body has antibodies to fight the Sars-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19. If the antibody is present, it means the person was infected and that they have developed immunity. The whole process -- from collection of sample to results -- with the antibody test is expected to take only around 20 minutes. The other test -- Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) -- takes around five to six hours.

As of Friday, the state recorded a total of 223 Covid-19 positive cases and two deaths. Gurugram had 32 cases.

According to the detailed plan prepared by the doctors in PGIMS, Rohtak, for rapid testing in hotspot areas, those whose report is positive in the antibody test, their nasal/throat swabs will be taken for the RT-PCR for confirmation. Even if the antibody test is negative and the medical officer feels that there is a need to confirm the result, then throat and nasal swabs for the RT-PCR test. Also, suspected cases will be required to be in a quarantine facility for 10 days and then tested. If positive, an RT-PCR would be done.

The antibody test will be useful to check if the person had the virus but did not show any symptoms, and thus could pass on the infection to others. “There is a possibility that the patient was only recently infected too [The virus has an incubation period of two to five days during which the person will not show any symptoms]. For them, a quarantine for 10 days will be suggested, thereafter the rapid antibody test will be done again. If positive and symptomatic, the patient will get a PCR test and admitted to the hospital for treatment,” said Dr Jaswant Singh Punia, chief medical officer.

On April 4, the Indian Council of Medical Research issued a letter to the states on starting the rapid antibody-based blood test for Covid-19 in clusters with containment zones and large migration gathering or evacuees.

Earlier this week, the district health said the rapid test would be conducted in a 3-kilometre radius of the containment zone where a Covid-19 positive case is reported. A team of health workers and doctors would do tests of all occupants in 50 houses, chosen randomly, in each of the four directions of the containment zone.