Indore starts rapid antigen tests, gets 12,500 kits from govt

Health authorities in Indore started conducting rapid antigen tests from Tuesday for faster detection of COVID-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh's worst-hit district, an official said.

The district has received 12,500 kits from the state government for the tests in the first phase, Amit Malakar, district nodal officer for COVID-19 prevention, told reporters.

"Eighty nine teams have been formed in the district for conducting rapid antigen tests with the help of these kits. Of these, 11 teams were sent for the task on Tuesday," he said.

The teams will carry out rapid antigen tests on contacts and family members of COVID-19 patients, he said.

These rapid antigen tests will also be conducted on people arriving at fever clinics, those lodged in quarantine centres, jail inmates and passengers arriving at the airport here from abroad, the official said.

"This small kit takes 20 to 30 minutes to detect if a person has the coronavirus infection," he said.

Malakar also informed that 142 new COVID-19 patients were found in the district in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases here to 10,191.

He said during the last five months, a total of 345 patients have died of COVID-19 in the district, while 6,683 recovered from the infection after treatment.

Meanwhile, BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Dr Sumer Singh Solanki, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week, has been shifted to Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS) here from Barwani, the hospital's administrative officer, Rajiv Singh, told PTI.

His health condition is stable, Singh said.

"Solanki, a resident of Barwani, is infected with coronavirus. He was admitted to a private ward of the hospital on Sunday night. His condition continues to be stable," he said.

Solanki was earlier under home isolation in Barwani after he tested positive for coronavirus on August 13. He was later shifted to Indore on the advice of doctors, a health official from Barwani said.