After months of bureaucratic tangles, the government has permitted antigen-based rapid testing for Covid-19 at the government healthcare centres.
The announcement came today with a circular dated September 17 and signed by Bilkis Begum, deputy secretary of the health service division of the health ministry.
“We have issued the circular allowing antigen based testing at healthcare setting,” Bilkis Begum told The Daily Star this morning.
“Antigen-based testing has been permitted in all government hospitals, district hospitals, government PCR labs and all health institutes as per the proposal of the health directorate and the interim guideline of the World Health Organization,” reads the circular.
However, the guideline for the expansion of the Covid-19 labs has to be followed once finalised.
The National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 also recommended it several times.
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