News Desk :
BRAC has launched antigen-based COVID-19 rapid testing with fast results for suspected patients in Bangladesh on Saturday.
Initially, the tests will be carried out at 15 booths in Dhaka and one in Chattogram under the supervision of the Directorate General of Health Services, the NGO said in a statement on Friday.
BRAC has been collecting samples from suspected coronavirus patients for RT-PCR tests at its kiosks in parts of the country since March 2020.
The plan to expand the testing has come amid a new wave of COVID-19 cases.The rapid antigen test facility will gradually expand to BRAC’s 32 testing booths in Dhaka and four in Chattogram, according to the Health, Nutrition and Population Programme or HNPP of BRAC.
The booths will be open from 9am to 12 noon from Saturday to Thursday. Each of the booths will be able to collect and analyse 150 samples a day.
Currently, RT-PCR tests are followed in Bangladesh for the majority of the samples, which takes at least 24 hours or more to get the results.
But, an antigen test will deliver the result within 30 minutes only, which BRAC expects will quicken the government’s COVID-19 testing operations.
As part of its efforts to support the DGHS, BRAC is operating 41 walk-in sample collection booths in areas vulnerable to coronavirus infection across the country.
These samples are transferred to government-approved laboratories that deliver results after testing them in the RT-PCR process.
Five of these booths are designated only to collect samples from the passengers going abroad.
“Bangladesh’s health system got some time to prepare itself to deal with the first wave of COVID-19, but the second wave arrived too quickly. To tackle the situation, there is no alternative to maintaining health advisories, along with testing suspects and referring them for isolation,” said Morseda Chowdhury, the director of BRAC’s HNPP.
“I hope taking the rapid antigen test to the doors of the people will play an important role in this regard, as it will help speedy diagnosis and management of the patients.”
Morseda also said the benefits of this initiative “must be taken” to all the regions vulnerable to COVID-19 for which assistance from all quarters is essential.
Britain’s The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is supporting BRAC and DGHS in this effort.
