Assam starts rapid antibody test for Covid-19 in Guwahati apartment in containment zone

Prabin Kalita | TNN | Updated: Apr 23, 2020, 22:10 IST

Repesentative image (AP)

GUWAHATI: After nod from ICMR to carry out rapid antibody testing of Covid-19 with the Chinese kit for surveillance purpose only, Assam on Thursday started a trial run on 100 residents of an apartment in the city, which has been declared a containment zone.
Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “ICMR had asked all states to put on hold the rapid antibody testing for two days after Rajasthan complained anomalies in the test results. The two days period has ended and ICMR has told us that we can use the rapid test kit for surveillance purpose only.”
“Today we have started a trial run test of the kit in the posh Spanish Garden apartments on 100 residents. If no positive case is found, this apartment will be taken out of the containment zone restrictions in next 48 hours,” Sarma said. The apartment was declared a containment zone on April 6 after one of the residents tested positive for Covid-19.
Centre has purchased rapid test kits from China and distributed tem among states. Assam received 9,600 such kits and was to use them at three containment zones –Spanish Garden apartments, Athgaon Majid and Lahorighat in Morigaon district from Wednesday and in the three medical college and hospitals and all district hospitals from April 24
From Friday, the Guwahati, Silchar and Dibrugarh medical college and hospitals will be re-opened for general treatment and the health department will use the rapid test randomly in these hospitals as well the district civil hospitals surveillance.
Sarma said, “The rapid test will be done on any patient who the doctor believes should be tested for Covid-19 before touching him for treatment. Without the rapid test, a doctor with doubt on a patient will have to keep him waiting for at least a day until his test results by the RT-PCR method is obtained. With the rapid test we can have the result within 15 minutes. This test is also necessary for protection of doctors.”
He added, “Moreover, the medical college and hospitals are places where patients come from all over the place. With the rapid test surveillance we can have an idea if the virus is spreading.”