‘COVID-19 test at entry point waste of resources’

SHILLONG: While the State Government has made it mandatory for everyone entering the state to undergo mandatory rapid antigen test, medical experts believe that asking people to undergo RAT at borders is a waste of resources.
NEIGRIHMS Director Dr P Bhattacharya on Tuesday maintained that testing at the border through rapid antigen was a waste of valuable resources.
The NEIGRIHMS chief said the same money could have been used for organising other things.
He supported his argument saying that a person may have low antibodies while being tested at the border and he will be negative but the antibodies of a person may increase next day and he may test positive again.
Talking about the procedure in NEIGRIHMS, Bhattacharya said every patient is tested with RAT before admission and they also conduct an RTPCR test.
“If I do only rapid test I will be wasting huge amount of PPEs and compromising safety of the health workers unless I do confirmatory test,” he said.