New Delhi: The economic activities in India are resuming gradually. They are expected to increase further with the country adopting the ‘Unlock 3.0’ mode. Amid the resumption of economic activities, corporate houses are increasingly opting for rapid antigen and antibody tests. This is being done to screen and protect their employees from coronavirus, said several diagnostics labs and hospitals in the NCR.
The ‘Rapid Antigen Test’ was introduced in the national capital last month. It is a quicker and cheaper alternative to the ‘gold standard RT-PCR’ test, which is considered more reliable.
“We are getting antigen test queries mostly through the government. We are also getting queries from corporates that have large employee population. They want to get it done since one or two of their employees may have tested positive,” said Chetan Kohli. He is the COO of the ‘Seeds of Innocence and Genestrings Lab’.
Standard Q COVID-19 Ag detection kit (rapid antigen test kits) is a quick chromatographic immunoassay. It is done for qualitative detection of specific antigens to SARS-CoV-2 or the novel coronavirus. The tests can be interpreted as positive or negative within 15 minutes of putting the sample into the well. This happens due to appearance of the test and control lines. Both these options can be read with a naked eye, requiring no specialised equipment.
The maximum duration for interpreting a positive or negative test is 30 minutes.
After the rapid antigen test was introduced, labs say that there is an increasing interest among people in getting tested.
Zoya Brar is the CEO and Founder of the Gurgaon-based ‘CORE Diagnostics’. He also said they have received requests from diverse corporate sectors. Among them is manufacturing, service and travel companies who have requested antigen testing of their employees.
Brar said they are considering the requests keeping various parameters in mind. It included the location of the company, infrastructure, number of employees etc. “Accordingly we will share our plan of action. We are currently in conversation with them to expedite the process,” she added.
Some labs are getting inquiries from corporates about antibody testing. It is designed to detect antibodies against the virus that causes the deadly COVID-19 disease. The test requires a sample to be taken from a person’s arm and it is then tested for a type of antibody called immunoglobulin G (IgG).
Dr Geeta Chopra, Lab director of the Delhi branch of the Metropolis Labs had information to offer. She said that in the national capital, they have held three or four camps to conduct antibody tests for corporate. However, in Mumbai, the camps have been conducted on a larger scale.
“In Delhi, we are doing more antibody tests than antigen test. Corporates are asking more about antibody tests. The point is when you are doing antigen, you have to do it on symptomatic patients. However, corporates won’t be asking such patients to join. We are getting requests for antibody tests,” informed Chopra.
Dr Arjun Dang, CEO of Dr Dangs Lab, said they have received quite a few requests from Delhi-based corporate for testing.
“Getting the antibody tests for a large company that is trying to unlock or reopen add a lot of value. It helps them plan their opening up. What I mean by that is corporates are getting mass screening done for their employees for IgG antibodies,” Dr Dang said.
IgG antibody starts being produced after three weeks of probable exposure. The antibody test is not a diagnostic technique. It is exclusively used for surveillance and for indicating past exposure to the virus. The test result says whether a person has recovered or is recovering. It also states whether the body has been successful in producing an immune response in the form of ‘igG antibody’.
“The corporates are planning to open up in a phased manner. They give a preference to those employees for starting operations who are testing positive for IgG antibodies,” Fang informed.