After Maharashtra, Rajasthan uses rapid testing kit to detect Coronavirus

In terms of testing corona samples, Rajasthan is second in the country being behind just Maharashtra.
For representational purposes. (Photo | PTI)
For representational purposes. (Photo | PTI)

JAIPUR: Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to begin rapid testing for Coronavirus (COVID-19) through the Rapid Anti-bodies Test Kit. Additional Chief Secretary (Medical & Health) Rohit Kumar Singh said that the first set of 52 Rapid Tests were carried out at Jaipur’s Topkhana Primary Health Centre in the Walled City area on Friday evening. Fortunately, all the 52 people tested on the first day were found to be negative.

In Jaipur’s Corona hotspot of Ramganj locality 5,000 rapid tests would be done. ACS Rohit singh also said that the data collection of rapid tests was being done through an app developed by the State government for an expeditious analysis of results. Besides rapid testing, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based testing would also continue to be done in an aggressive manner in containment zones all over Rajasthan.   

Although rapid tests are not confirmatory tests, at the initial level they help a great deal in segregating those infected from the rest of the people and enable the location of areas that are more heavily infected. As soon as they indicate that a person is infected, s/he can be isolated from the concerned locality and family.

Rapid tests will be conducted in large numbers in areas that need Corona-containment on priority. Vegetable vendors and Kirana merchants who come in contact with a large number of people will be among the first to be tested. In later rounds, aggressive testing will be done in all containment zones. In addition, the Sampling and Rapid Testing Kit will be a great help to control the Corona crisis.

In terms of testing corona samples, Rajasthan is second in the country being behind just Maharashtra. If samples per ten lakh of population are considered, Rajasthan tops the entire nation in testing of people for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). For every ten lakhs, Rajasthan has tested 360 samples while Maharashtra is second with 290 samples per ten lakh population.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot said his government aims to use the Lockdown period for aggressive testing so that the extent of Corona crisis in Rajasthan can be gauged. While talking to the media through a Video Conference, Gehlot asserted, ‘‘In testing for Covid-19, Rajasthan has become Number One in the country. Already 50,000 rapid test kits have arrived and more kits will arrive over the next three days. The state will also have no shortage of other tests. With 47904 tests, Rajasthan ranks at the top among all states in terms of Corona testing.’’

To examine the quality of Rapid Test kits, a special committee of experts of the Virology Department of the SMS MMedical College in Jaipur has been set up. Once they approve, such kits will be supplied to labs all across the state. Rajasthan plans to use rapid test for community surveillance and to scale up testing capacity to 10,000 tests per day over the next 10 days.

There is a rapid increase in Corona positive cases ain Rajasthan and so far 1351 positive cases have been identified and 21 people have died due to the deadly virus .

The government claims that the situation is well under control and the infected ones are responding well to the treatment as a result 200 people have recovered so far.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com