Hyderabad: The rapid antigen test kits that are being provided by the government are proving to be non-reliable.
It was found that there were many patients whose results were declared negative even though they had covid-19 symptoms whereas other patients’ results were positive though they had no signs of the disease.
The testing done by the rapid antigen kits and its results of the Bowenpally based minority residential school is under the scanner.
The government in order to identify the covid-19 cases as soon as possible is giving priority to the rapid antigen tests and has opened 20 government testing centres and 60 private testing centres in Hyderabad with every centre assigned to do 25 tests. There are 97 testing centres assigned in Hyderabad whereas in Medchal it is 88 and Ranga Reddy has 60 rapid antigen testing centres.
In the results, it is observed that persons who have symptoms of covid-19 such as fever, difficulty in breathing, body pains, etc are being declared as negative. In such cases, the medical officers are asking patients to undergo RT-PCR tests to ascertain the correct results.
In the Bowenpally based residential school, only two students’ reports were positive when the testing was done through RT-PCR tests whereas many students’ results came positive through rapid antigen testing.
The supply of the non-reliable antigen testing kits is a cause of concern to not only doctors but also the public.