Pilot project: 500 undergo rapid antigen testing

AMRITSAR : Over 500 people have undergone Covid-19 rapid antigen testing in the five worst-affected districts of Punjab in the last five days as part of the state health department’s pilot project.

Of the 504 symptomatic people tested in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mohali and Patiala districts, 79 tested positive for the coronavirus, with a positivity rate of 15.6%, officials said.

Antigen testing detects foreign substances found on or within the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the body through nasal swab samples. The test is performed outside the conventional laboratory setting and is used to obtain a diagnostic result in 30 minutes.

Also, the swab samples of those tested negative for Covid-19 in the antigen test reports were sent to the virus research and diagnostic laboratories (VRDL) of the state for confirmatory RT-PCR (real-time polymerase chain reaction) testing to check whether both the tests show same results.

The RT-PCR is the most commonly used test for Covid-19. It is based on a process that repeatedly copies and amplifies the specific genetic fragments of the virus. The test is done in a lab and it takes 5-8 hours to test a sample.

The state government started the antigen testing project on July 10, with 5,000 kits at its disposal. Nearly 1,000 testing kits were given to each of the select districts.

“So far, 252 antigen tests have been done in Jalandhar, the highest among all the districts, followed 124 in Patiala, 66 in Ludhiana, 51 in Amritsar and 11 in Mohali. Eighteen people tested negative in antigen tests were found to be infected in RT-PCR tests,” state Covid-19 nodal officer Dr Rajesh Bhaskar said.

‘MORE ACCURATE THAN RAPID CARD TESTING’

The health officials said the reports of antigen testing kits are showing more accurate results than those through rapid card testing, the testing technique which was discontinued by the state after contradictory reports surfaced.