The tests will be carried out from Friday in COVID test centers and makeshift preliminary care
Guwahati:
The Center asked Assam to speed up testing in Guwahati and change its technique after the state recorded a 6.5% growth rate for coronaviruses, which is much higher than the national average. The city has recorded nearly 1,400 cases in the past two days.
“The rapid growth rate of the spread of the virus has even worried the Indian government. Interior Minister Amit Shah had a telephone discussion with me about this. He advised us to increase testing in Guwahati 10,000 tests per day. “State Minister of Health Himanta Biswa Sarma told GalacticGaming.
“The ICMR officials had a discussion with our health secretary and we have developed a new test protocol. It will be based on a swab and no other confirmatory tests will be required. We need to quickly identify the COVID – 19 health centers will be at the heart of treatment, “he added.
Assam will now introduce the standard COVID Q test technique, which will test the antigen; reports will be provided within the hour. Currently, the state is testing samples using RT-PCR and TrueNat techniques, in which results arrive from one to seven days.
“This has shortened the waiting period for COVID test results by 3 to 4 days as part of the existing RT-PCR test (real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction),” added Sarma.
The tests will be carried out from Friday at makeshift COVID screening and preliminary care centers in 31 districts of Guwahati.
For this test, professionals take a nasal swab, which is then immersed in a solution that deactivates the virus. A few drops of this solution are then placed on a test strip. This should be done within 1 hour of immersing the swab in the solution.
Mr. Sarma said that people will first be tested on the antigen and if they are found negative, they will be tested again by the RT-PCR test “to be sure”. People who test positive will be immediately taken to hospital.
He said rapid tests are important because people wander after submitting their samples until the time their test results are known.
“Thanks to rapid tests, they can be transported immediately to hospitals, thereby limiting any further contamination,” he said.
