Photos: Delhi lowers Covid-19 test prices, begins antigen testing

On June18, Delhi put into effect two major decisions announced by a high-powered committee formed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to address the capital’s Covid-19 strategy. Tests based on the Rapid Antigen methodology approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) were put into use beginning with Delhi’s containment zones yesterday. Additionally, the rates of RT-PCR tests in the capital have been capped at ₹2,400 instead of the current ₹4,500.

Updated on: Jun 19, 2020 3:00 PM IST

News

Share via

• 
• 
• 
• 

Copy link

• 

1/8

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Jun 19, 2020 3:00 PM

Covid-19 Ag antigen kits stacked at a dispensary in Dilshad Garden on June 18. Delhi began using the quick result and economical rapid test kits yesterday as part of a new strategy by the Union and state governments to ramp up the number of tests in Delhi six fold by the end of this week. (Biplov Bhuyan / HT PHOTO)

2/8

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Jun 19, 2020 3:00 PM

A woman gives a nasopharyngeal swab for Covid-19 Ag antigen testing in Nangal Raya on June 18. The tests began on a day the government announced that lab tests will be capped at ₹2,400, a day after it was suggested by a committee formed by the Union government. (Sanchit Khanna / HT Photo)

3/8

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Jun 19, 2020 3:00 PM

People in a queue for Covid-19 testing in Shahdara on June 17. Delhi has been scaling up the number of tests being conducted through the week. The home ministry said on June 17 that 16,618 samples were collected in Delhi for testing in the two days prior. This number varied between 4,000 and 4,500 before the June 14 meeting between Home Minster Amit Shah and the Delhi government. (Sonu Mehta / HT Photo)

4/8

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Jun 19, 2020 3:00 PM

A health worker handles swab samples collected for COVID-19 testing on June 17. Apart from being quicker than lab-based RT-PCR tests, the antigen tests being employed now are cheaper – one kit costs ₹450 – and differ in technology as they look for specific protein associated with the Sars-Cov-2 virus, the pathogen that causes Covid-19. (Parveen Kumar / HT Photo)

5/8

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Jun 19, 2020 3:00 PM

A medical technician at work in a sample collection centre in West Vinod Nagar on June 18. Rapid antigen testing was done at 193 centres in Delhi on June 18. A total of 7,040 people were tested of whom 456 tested positive for the infection, acting health minister Manish Sisodia said in a tweet yesterday. Testing is initially being done in containment zones. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo)

6/8

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Jun 19, 2020 3:00 PM

A health worker collects a swab sample in Patel Nagar on June 18. The antigen diagnostic test, which takes just 30 minutes to produce results, was approved for use in India on June 15. The government has already received 50,000 of the 6 lakh kits ordered. (Vipin Kumar / HT Photo)

7/8

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Jun 19, 2020 3:00 PM

A medic inserts a nasopharyngeal swab into a tube to inactivate the virus before antigen testing at a centre in Nangal Raya on June 18. Apart from containment zones, antigen tests are likely to be rolled out in Delhi’s hospitals within a couple of days. (Sanchit Khanna / HT Photo)

8/8

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Jun 19, 2020 3:00 PM

A technician works with antigen test kits in Dilshad Garden on June 18. “The sensitivity of this test and that of RT-PCR is almost similar; the sensitivity of RT-PCR is about 67%. But, the antigen test is faster and cheaper, so we can test more people. This means that we will be able to detect more cases at an early stage,” Dr Jugal Kishore, head of the department of community medicine at Safdarjung hospital told HT. (Biplov Bhuyan / HT Photo)