JOIN USKarnataka's Dakshina Kannada to begin antigen tests
Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district has received 3,500 antigen kits and the rapid antigen tests for coronavirus will be conducted shortly.
Health department sources said they were hoping that the rapid antigen tests would help in increasing the number of tests and bring down the load of testing on labs, as antigen kits allow faster diagnosis.
It takes a minimum of eight hours to get the results via real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. Antigen tests can provide results within 30 minutes as compared to RT-PCR tests.
The antigen test will be conducted for emergency cases like delivery, surgery, persons with severe symptoms of Covid-19, multiple-organ failure and for those whose condition is critical. "If a symptomatic patient tests negative for Covid-19, then his throat swab sample would be sent for lab testing," the district health officer (DHO) said.
DHO (in charge) Dr Rathnakar also said "Training is being imparted on the use of the kits. It will be used for emergency cases on priority basis."