Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava wrote to the chief secretaries of all states/UTs on Friday, 31 December, asking them to set up round-the-clock functional Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) booths at different locations, engage medical and paramedical staff, and encourage the use of home test kits.
Noting the rise in COVID cases and positivity rates in various parts of the country, the letter informed that “India has a network of 3,117 molecular testing laboratories, which include 2014 RT-PCR, 941 TrueNat, 132 CBNAAT and 30 other testing platforms.
Stating that the estimated national testing capacity is at 20 lakh per day, the health secretary asked states to upscale their testing in view of the rising cases.
Further, since RT-PCR tests have a turnaround time of 5 to 8 hours, and can lead to delays, states have been asked to increase testing by use of rapid antigen tests.
The letter states the following measures to be taken up:
Set up multiple RAT booths on a 24x7 basis to provide better and easier access.
RATs may be allowed at government and private healthcare facilities including hospitals, clinics, primary health centres etc. No accreditation is required for undertaking rapid antigen testing by any facility.
States have been encouraged to engage appropriate medical and paramedical staff to set up and operationalise RAT booths.
Use of self-tests/home-tests has been encouraged for symptomatic persons. Seven such kits have been approved so far.
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