Fadnavis bats for RT-PCR tests over antigen tests for Covid-19 detection

Maharashtra BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the state should use its full capacity for RT-PCR testing to detect coronavirus positive cases, and opposed the dominance of antigen tests in the total number of tests conducted.

He said the state's Covid-19 prevention strategy must be scientific and not be based on "mere data management or data suppression".

The former chief minister tweeted, "Out of total 78,711 Covid-19 tests done on August six, 50,421 were antigen tests (64%) & only 27,440 were RT-PCR (34%) 850 tests using other methods. This ratio has to be 1:1 & not 1:2."

"Due to 65 percent failure rate of Antigen testing, RT-PCR is only considered as golden method for testing," he said further in the tweet.

"Maharashtra has 54,000-plus RT-PCR (Real Time- Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing capacity and we must utilise it to the full extent. Our Covid-19 prevention strategy needs a more scientific approach rather than mere data management or data suppression," the leader of opposition in the Assembly said.