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India Coronavirus Dispatch: Newer rapid antigen tests promise more accuracy

ICU beds fill up in Delhi, new studies shed more light on the virus, how to socialise in the festive season amid Covid-19, and more-news on how the country is coping with the pandemic

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A health worker collects a nasal sample from a woman for a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) for the Covid-19 coronavirus in Srinagar.

Bharath Manjesh Bengaluru

4 min read Last Updated : Nov 13 2020 | 3:01 PM IST

Newer rapid antigen tests promise more accurate results, but scale of use in India a concern

Quicker and cheaper but less reliable than the “gold standard” RT-PCR, rapid antigen tests (RAT) have come a long way since they were introduced for Covid-19 testing around five months ago. They now form an important cog in Covid management as part of the Swiss Cheese Model, a strategy that underlines putting up a multi-pronged defence against the disease instead of taking piecemeal measures.

There have been concerns about the tests as they are known to be prone to false negatives, but newer variants

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