After RT-PCR, primary health centres to begin antigen testing

Gurgaon: To increase Covid testing in Gurgaon, the health department will conduct rapid antigen tests in all the primary health centres. Each PHC will be provided with 100 antigen kits. So far, PHCs were collecting samples only for RT-PCR tests, which take longer to produce results but are more accurate.
At present, the district has 10,000 antigen kits. It started antigen testing on June 24 at the Civil Hospital in Sector 10, and since then, has conducted 47,308 such tests, out of which 45,988 were negative and 1,320 were positive.
“Our aim is to conduct 3,000 Covid tests daily in Gurgaon. We have 10,000 antigen kits at present and will be giving away a total 3,100 kits to the primary health centres,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurgaon. Gurgaon has 19 urban primary healthcare centres (PHCs) and 12 rural PHCs which will conduct these tests.
Private labs in the state are not allowed to conduct rapid antigen tests, which were only being conducted at Covid camps set up by the department. “Gurgaon has 60 camps in various locations of the city for antigen tests. These camps were set up on July 30th and will continue till August 7,” said Dr MP Singh, nodal officer for containment zones in Gurgaon.
Till July 30, Haryana has conducted 1,32,686 rapid antigen tests out of which 5,011 samples were found positive. Out of these, 28,630 tests were conducted by Faridabad, 10,999 tests by Jhajjar, 13,170 by Sonipat, 6,438 by Rewari, 8277 by Rohtak.
Overall, Gurgaon has conducted 47,308 antigen and 82,925 RT-PCR tests, the highest in Haryana. In Gurgaon, a total of 1,30,233 Covid tests have been conducted till now, and at present, the positivity rate is 8%, whereas Haryana’s positivity rate is at 5.7%. The district has tested 7,619 samples per lakh population which is also the highest in Haryana.