Jamshedpur administration to conduct 10,000 rapid antigen test for COVID-19 detection

Jamshedpur, Aug 17: As part of the newer additional strategies for COVID-19 testing, the East Singhbhum district health department has decided to carry massive rapid antigen tests for Covid-19 at the steel city and in its rural areas on Tuesday.

The health department has planned to carry out all 10,000 tests on a single day covering both the urban areas as well as the rural areas. Around 400 medical personnel will be engaged for the task.� The drive will be carried from 8 am to continue till 4 pm on Tuesday.

Sharing details about the rapid antigen test, district civil surgeon, Dr RN Jha said that it is one of their ambitious steps to control the situation. For carrying out such a test one does need a conventional laboratory. Jha said the medical team will carry out the test through swabbed samples from the nose and throat like it is done for a test in the RT-PCR in a lab, but the sample tests are done by means of a kit outside a laboratory.

“Under Rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) the presence of viral proteins (antigens) is detected in a sample taken from the respiratory tract of a person.� If the target antigen is present in large numbers in the sample, it will generate a signal within 30 minutes,” noted the civil surgeon.

Jha went on to add that though results of an antigen test of any person takes only 30 minutes, compiling the results of 10,000 tests in a day will take considerable time and thus the results of the massive tests may be available till late on Tuesday night.

According to sources in the health department, the rapid antigen tests will be carried out in Jamshedpur and in 10 blocks across the East Singhbhum district. �

The sources said in Jamshedpur 16 sample collection-cum-test centres have been identified for the rapid antigen tests, whereas in the rural areas of the district 160 such centres have been set up. � The number of COVID-19 positive cases crossed 3700 as fresh cases were again reported in the city on Monday. The city also witnessed three more deaths taking the final toll figures at Tata Main Hospital ( TMH) to around 137 till afternoon.