Delhi: Authorities begin process of conducting rapid antigen tests outside COVID containment zones

New Delhi, July 3 () Authorities in Delhi on Friday started the process of conducting rapid antigen tests outside the COVID-19 containment zones, a move that will scale up the city's capacity to check the spread of coronavirus in the national capital, officials said.

Until now, the rapid antigen test was only being conducted in containment zones.

The Delhi government has given the task to every district magistrate in the city to conduct 2,000 rapid antigen tests every day in their respective areas.

South Delhi, West Delhi, East Delhi and Shahdara were among the districts where the administration started the process of conducting rapid antigen tests outside containment zones, an official said.

Around 25 to 30 teams have been constituted in each district to conduct more antigen tests, he said.

With 2,000 rapid antigen tests per day, the testing exercise will be scaled up significantly with 22,000 tests conducted every day across 11 districts in Delhi.

The Delhi government had said that it procured six lakh rapid antigen test kits for screening COVID-19 infected persons.

The kits, called Standard Q COVID-19 Ag detection, have been developed by South Korean company S D Biosensor. The testing method involves looking for antibodies which are produced when the body is exposed to a pathogen.

If a person has antibodies associated with novel coronavirus, it means the person is either COVID-19 positive or has recovered.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, suspected individuals who test negative for COVID-19 in the rapid antigen test should undergo RT-PCR test to rule out the infection.

Positive test results should be considered as true positive and do not need reconfirmation by RT-PCR test, it said. BUN SNE