In view of the rapid surge in Covid numbers, Un ion Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Friday asked the States/Union Territories (UTs) to ramp up rapid antigen tests (RAT) as RTPCR-based testing leads to delays in confirming the diagnosis due to its turnaround time of 5-8 hours. In a letter addressed to States/UTs, Bhushan advised to set up multiple RAT booths on a 24/7 basis and permit RATs at government and private hospitals, including all districts hospitals and primary healthcare centres.

“Use of self-tests/home tests may be encouraged for symptomatic individuals. Seven such home testing kits have been approved so far, and two of them are also available on the GeM portal … All RT-PCR and RAT results should be uploaded on the ICMR portal,” Bhushan said in the letter.

Suspected until proven

Meanwhile, Bhushan also emphasised that any person with fever and with or without other symptoms such as headache, sore throat, breathlessness, bodyache, loss of taste or smell should be considered as a suspected case of Covid-19, unless proven otherwise by confirmation of another etiology.

“All such individuals must be tested. While awaiting the test results, they should be advised to immediately isolate themselves and follow the home isolation guidelines of the Health Ministry,” he stated.

As of now, India has a network of 3,117 molecular testing labs which includes testing platforms based on RT-PCR, TrueNat, CBNAT and others. The estimated national daily molecular testing capacity is more than 20 lakh per day, as per the letter.

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