The Health Ministry on August 25 claimed that some states have become more reliant on moderately sensitive, cheap, and faster antigen tests than the highly-sensitive and accurate Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests to detect the coronavirus infection.

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The clarification came amid speculation that a high dependence on antigen tests could lead to under-detection of cases. Several experts have warned that such tests throw up more false negatives. Addressing a press briefing, theHealth Ministry Secretary said: "Some states have found the antigen test simpler and have reduced the RT-PCR test by 1-3 per cent. The antigen tests have grown. If you look at the national average, they would be around 30-40 per cent."

The specificity is nearly 100 per cent for both the tests, but the sensitivity of the rapid antigen test is of moderate nature and is between 60-85 per cent, while that of RT-PCR is from 80-95 per cent, added the Health Ministry. He however, insisted that the RT-PCR tests are still growing at a rapid rate and the government is setting up new labs to conduct more such tests.