In a major development, Rajasthan has discontinued the use of rapid testing kits to check the prevalence of COVID19 as the results are inaccurate. This was confirmed by the health minister of the state Dr Raghu Sharma. The government has also said that it expects a spike in the number of cases over the next two days as results of 4,000 backlog samples are expected from a Delhi laboratory.
“The tests were not accurate. We had taken utmost care and not compromised on any parameter stipulated by the ICMR but the results were not accurate. Even those who have tested tested positive were being tested negative through these kits. Our doctors have recommended that we stop their use. We have written about it to ICMR,” said Sharma.
“When results of rapid testing are not a fool proof test and a PCR test has to be carried out it does not make sense,” he added.
Out of the 1232 tests conducted by these kits, only two were tested positive. The kits had been pressed into use on April 17 making Rajasthan the first state to carry out Rapid Testing for COVID19. Large scale tests were to be conducted through these kits to access the prevalence of COVID19 in hotspots, both in containment and buffer zones around the clusters.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan reported 52 new positive cases on Tuesday morning. According to the 9 am report by the Medical and Health Department 4 of these are from Bhilwara. All four are from different localities in the city and have been placed under home quarantine.
Of the remaining cases 34 are from Jaipur and 5 from Jodhpur, 2 each from Dausa, Tonk and Jaisalmer and 1 each from Sawai Madhopur, Nagaur and Jhunjhunu. This takes the total number of positives in the state to 1565. The cumulative total for the state which includes 61 Iraq evacuees and 2 Italians is 1628.
