The government has started antigen testing for Covid-19 in Bangladesh for quick detection of the pandemic virus in 10 districts where the RT-PRC labs are not available.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque inaugurated the facility for Panchagarh, Gaibandha, Joypurhat, Patuakhali, Meherpur, Munshiganj, Brahmanbaria, Jashore, Madaripur and Sylhet districts on Saturday in a ceremony held virtually in Dhaka.
The free-of-cost tests will be conducted at the Sadar hospitals of those districts, except Sylhet where the test will be done at the Shaheed Shamsuddin Medical College.
Antigen test is cheaper and easy to use. It gives quick results. The closet analogy is an at-home pregnancy test. But for Covid testing, the antigen test is difficult for home use because of the sample collection. Collection of nasal swab which is used for testing needs training.
Another problem is false negative results. The government set guidelines for that. The person will go for isolation if tested positive. Those tested negative but have symptoms will be tested again using RT-PCR for confirmation.
The health minister encouraged all to go for testing. “Tests are very vital for Covid-19 management. We have started antigen testing in the districts where PCR testing is not available. We’ll expand this gradually,” he said.
He also stressed on wearing masks and maintaining social distancing to prevent the virus infection. The government is working on bringing vaccines once available in the world.
The health minister said Covid-19 patients and deaths are rising again. “So it’s necessary to identify and treat Covid-19 through tests to control it.”
Prof Meerjady Sabrina Flora, additional director general for health services, said the antigen test should be done within seven days once Covid-19 symptoms develop in a person.
“This will reduce the burden on the PCR test,” she said.
As of Friday, the government confirmed 473,991 coronavirus cases in Bangladesh. Of them, 6,772 died and 390,951 recovered.
