RANCHI: Months after discontinuing the
Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) to detect Covid-19 infections doubting the efficacy of the test kits, the
state government is now planning to procure fresh consignments of the
kits for
mass screening of people ahead of the upcoming festivals and other events.
Talking to TOI, state epidemiologist Dr Praveen Karn said, “We have been requested recently to arrange for RAT kits for the ongoing Army recruitment drive in Ranchi and some upcoming mass screening drives.”
It may be noted that the government had discontinued Covid-19 screening through RAT since November 2020.
Dr Karn said, “The government had not procured fresh stocks of RAT kits for a while since the infection rate had declined a bit. Moreover, as per the Centre’s guidelines, those
testing negative through RAT had to undergo a fresh round of testing through RT-PCR. Keeping all these factors in mind, we had discontinued the use of
antigen kits.”
He added, “All this while, we were conducting Covid tests at RT-PCR labs and TrueNat testing centre in all districts. However, we have decided to go for RAT tests to strengthen our surveillance and the healthcare facilities have been asked to use them in case of an emergency so that patients, in need of urgent intervention, don’t suffer.”
Meanwhile, the crackdown on violators of Covid-control measures continued in Ranchi on Friday and the cops issued notices to as many as 20 commercial establishments for not following safety norms. On Thursday, when the checking drive was launched by the district administration, challans worth over Rs 2 lakh were issued to over 400 persons for violating safety measures. “A total of 415 persons were penalised for moving around in the city without wearing masks,” a senior district official said.
“The drive will continue in the wake of an expected rise in the number of Covid-19 cases,” the official added.