Amid the second peak of Covid-19 being witnessed across the country, the Union health ministry has identified the states which are not doing enough RT-PCR tests to track Covid-19 infections. The list includes Puducherry, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur, Jharkhand, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Bihar and Telangana — Telangana accounting the lowest percentage of RT-PCR test of only 15.50.
In Gujarat, where over 2,000 new infections are being reported daily, the percentage of RT-PCR test remains as low as 23,89. In Delhi, the percentage is 46.04, while the Centre has asked all states and Union territories to bring the percentage to at least 70, while the rest can be rapid antigen testing.

Rapid antigen testing is easier to be carried out on a mass scale as it is cheaper and quicker than RT-PCR, while it may produce false-negative tests. As several states are testing randomly in crowded areas, this rapid testing is convenient, but RT-PCR testing is considered the gold standard in Covid-19 testing.

Initially, the cost of the RT-PCR testing was over 1,000 but now many state governments have capped the price. Maharashtra has been the latest state to slash the price of Covid-19 testing. In Maharashtra, for giving samples at the collection centre, ₹500 will be charged. For the same test at a Covid Care Centre or a quarantine centre, the charges will be ₹600 and to collect the swab from home, the labs can charge ₹800.

(With inputs from agencies)