The Union Health Ministry has asked all states and UTs to mandatorily retest all symptomatic negative cases of rapid antigen tests (RAT) through RT-PCR so that no positive COVID-19 cases are missed. The ministry has also urged them to urgently establish a monitoring mechanism via a designated officer or team in every district and at the state level for follow up on such cases.

These teams shall analyse details of the daily RAT conducted and ensure there are no delays in retesting of symptomatic negative cases. The ministry said it has noted that in some states, symptomatic cases tested negative by RAT are not being followed up by RT-PCR tests. The ICMR guidelines as well as the Union Health Ministry state that symptomatic negative cases of RAT and asymptomatic cases that develop symptoms within two to three days of testing negative must be retested through RT-PCR tests.