Delhi govt should follow up negative antigen test cases with RT-PCR tests: Congress

Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar on Saturday suggested that the Kejriwal government should follow up all negative rapid antigen test cases with RT-PCR tests to determine the exact number of COVID-19-affected people in the national capital.

Experts admit that rapid antigen tests are quicker for conducting testing at a large scale, and the "negative" cases should not lull the Delhi government into a false sense of security, Kumar said at a press conference. "The pandemic may surge suddenly, catching the government napping and the public in severe trouble," he added.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, earlier in the day, said people in the city, his government and the Centre have together attained victory in controlling coronavirus but the fight was not over yet.

The Delhi Congress president said that from June 19 to July 15, rapid antigen tests accounted for 70 per cent (2,81,555 cases) of all COVID tests in Delhi with a positivity rate of 6.92 per cent, while RT-PCR tests (1,20,505 cases) gave a positivity rate of 36.34 percent, which clearly showed the upward swing of COVID-19 cases in the capital.

"All rapid antigen negative test results should be tested at the gold standard RT-PCR to determine the correct number of corona cases in Delhi," he said.

It will be too premature to lower the guard on the Covid test-trace-treat front as the rapid antigen test being conducted in Delhi was not a foolproof method to determine the positive cases compared to the RT-PCR tests, Kumar added.

(Photo Credit: PTI)