Govt to begin antigen tests soon

Antigen tests for coronavirus will begin soon in Bangladesh and the districts that have no RT-PCR lab will get the kits first, the director general of health services has said, reports bdnews24.com.

The Directorate General of Health Services or DGHS is collecting 200,000 kits through the Central Medical Stores Depot initially, ABM Khurshid Alam told the news agency Wednesday.

"The kits will reach within a day or two. Besides these, the UNFPA is supposed to give us 1 million kits. I hope we'll be able to begin the tests within a day or two.

Besides the districts without RT-PCR lab, the large hospitals will get the kits for patients who urgently need the tests.

"They still need a week to get the results. It appeared that the patients get infected while waiting for the results at the hospitals," Khurshid said.

The government is also considering allowing private hospitals to conduct antigen tests in exchange for fixed fees, the director general said.

The amount should not exceed the money being charged now for RT-PCR tests, he said.