Rapid antigen tests to start from today; 8,000 kits received

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

The Gurugram district administration from Wednesday is all set to ramp up Covid-19 testing in the city by rolling out antigen detection tests from one booth in Sadar Bazar.

The antigen kits that will be used by the administration comes with a Covid-19 antigen test device, swab for sample collection, and viral extraction tube with viral lysis buffer that makes the virus inactive. (Parveen Kumar/HT file photo)

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

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 of 100,000 kits with a South Korean company that has a manufacturing plant in Manesar.

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. The RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests — often considered the gold standard in front-line testing for Covid-19 — too will continue simultaneously.

The district at the moment is conducting around 450 RT-PCR tests daily. The number of antigen tests to be conducted daily is yet to be decided by the administration depending on the response they receive today (Wednesday)..

Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, said, “It is a new test which delivers results in 15-30 minutes. Like RT-PCR, nasal swabs will be collected. But in the process of sample collection safety measures are to be taken. Therefore, we are figuring out a planned way to do the tests in different areas. The testing will start with Sadar Bazar area, where our Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) will identify people for collecting swab samples.”

He said that better clarity on the testing process will emerge on Wednesday after the actual tests start. “The plan is to conduct the test in a zone-wise manner. The overall plan will be prepared soon,” said Yadav, adding that a team of pathologists, microbiologists and technicians have already been trained tin conducting the tests.

The new 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.

The antigen kits that will be used by the administration comes with a Covid-19 antigen test device, swab for sample collection, and viral extraction tube with viral lysis buffer that makes the virus inactive.

Officials of the health department said that they have also increased the RT-PCR testing in the city by increasing the capacity of the lab to process at least 170 samples a day. Dr Jai Prakash, district surveillance officer, said, “RT-PCR test is being done 24 hours daily. Teams have been formed who are working in shifts. It includes seven lab technicians, pathologists, microbiologists, covid microbiologists and data entry operators.”.

In Gurugram, as of Tuesday, the total count of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 stood at 4,645, with 133 new cases being added in the last 24 hours. Of the 4,645 cases, 1,833 are active cases and 2,743 have been discharged. At least, 1255 patients are under home isolation.