Antigen tests in all containment zones of GB Nagar from today
NOIDA: The Gautam Budh Nagar district administration on Thursday will begin deploying teams into containment zones to conduct rapid antigen tests.
The Gautam Budh Nagar district includes Noida, Greater Noida and other adjoining areas, and accounted for 2362 cases as reported by the state government on Wednesday in its 12-hour summary report, which is nearly 10% of the total cases in Uttar Pradesh. The district had 293 containment zones as of Wednesday. The exercise will continue till all people in these zones are tested. “The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has trained our officials. Our doctors and health experts have, in turn, trained 50 teams, which will start antigen testing in high risk containment zones,” said Suhas LY district magistrate Gautam Budh Nagar.
A team will have three health workers -- assistant nursing staff and two lab technicians.
On Wednesday, a district health team led by Dr Amit Kumar, a government doctor in charge of Police Lines, conducted antigen tests on 77 personnel at the police commissionerate located in sector 108. The district administration did not share the results of this exercise.
On June 25, the ICMR detailed the need for rapid antigen tests to massively scale up testing capacity as the number of Covid-19 cases rise and lockdown restrictions are gradually relaxed.
With 15,000 rapid antigen test kits in their kitty, the district constituted teams to identify high risk groups, influenza-like illness symptoms (ILI) and co-morbidities.
These tests detect the presence of a foreign substance in a person’s oral or nasal swab that triggers the production of antibodies, and, therefore, can find infections. But these are nonconfirmatory tests. Those who test positive are considered “truly positive” for Covid-19 but those who test negative must go for an RT-PCR test for re-confirmation. Rapid antigen tests are quicker -- taking just 30 minutes -- and cheaper than RT-PCR.
The administration may keep people, who in a doctor’s opinion may have the virus, in home quarantine. “If a patient tests negative in the antigen test, but and doctors advice the RT-PCR for confirmation, then the doctor doctor can recommend home quarantine or institutional quarantine,” said Suhas.