Covid-19 crisis: In major U-turn, Centre announces 40% cut in RT- PCR tests

The Centre has announced that RT-PCR tests for Covid-19, considered to be the most reliable method of detecting the infection, will be cut down to 40 per cent under the new test plan.

Instead, the government will now depend on the rapid antigen test for the remaining 60 per cent of total Covid-19 tests. This announcement comes two months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised states to conduct 70 per cent of the tests through RT-PCR.

Currently, the government has cut down the RT-PCR testing capacity to 13 lakh per day from 16 lakh last week. By June-end, 60 per cent of the tests will be antigen tests, which numbers around 27 lakh. Antigen tests have been a less-reliable test method for Covid-19 as it has shown false-negative results. However, experts believe that when the viral load is high, the accuracy of the antigen test increases.

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According to the Health Ministry news briefing, during mid-May, around 63 per cent of total Covid-19 tests were RT-PCR, which numbers to 12 lakh tests per day. However, under the new test plan, the total number of tests conducted per day will be increased from 19 lakh in mid-May to 45 lakh by June-end. Hence, the RT-PCR tests will comprise 40 per cent of the total tests, which come to around 18 lakh per day.

RT-PCR has been now classified as "the standard test" by the government, which was previously "the gold standard test".

On Thursday, the positivity rate reported by RT-PCR was 17.2 per cent, the antigen test 8.3 per cent and TrueNat/CBNat 10.1 per cent. If all tests were RT-PCR, then approximately 75,000-80,000 more cases would have been reported than the official number of 2.76 lakh, NDTV reported.

The government said it aims at ‘rationalising’ the RT-PCR tests to increase the antigen test for making the process faster. It will help in early detection and faster treatment. This move is taken due to rise in cases in rural areas of the country. They also plan on having mobile testing vans to cover 10 villages daily.