Maharashtra to roll out rapid coronavirus tests

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, April 2

Maharashtra will join Kerala in conducting rapid tests to detect cases of Covid-19 where the results will be available in just a few minutes as against a few hours at present, according to state health minister Rajesh Tope.

The minister said the Maharashtra government's proposal to conduct these rapid tests on a large scale has been cleared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his video conferencing with state chief ministers.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, and Tope were among those who attended the conference with the Prime Minister, according to the minister.

The rapid or serological test involves collection of blood samples which are analysed for the presence of Covid-19 anti-bodies

"The Prime Minister has informed us that the state can now carry out rapid tests for early detection of coronavirus cases. We will be using blood samples for the early detection of COVID-19 infection," Tope told reporters in his daily briefing this afternoon.

According to health department officials here, the state government was keen on carrying out the rapid tests for Covid-19 since these provide details of people who were asymptomatic and were cured of the virus without even realising it.

The rapid or serological test involves collection of blood samples which are analysed for the presence of Covid-19 anti-bodies. The results would be available in a few minutes. A person who tests positive for the presence of anti-bodies would need to undergo confirmatory tests where a nasal or a throat swab is analysed for the

presence of a virus, according to officials here.

The serological tests would also indicate whether a person has developed immunity against the virus, health department officials said.