With the test positivity rate (TPR) hovering at 1 per cent and the threat of the third wave looming, the BMC has planned to set up Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) desks in malls, at railway stations and other crowded public facilities, a report stated in this paper. A top official was quoted as saying that the idea was to detect asymptomatic patients at an early stage. This was of course to stop transmission but also to understand the pattern of the spread of the infection. Ward officials had been asked to identify spots in their respective wards where RAT desks were to be set up.

We need to up testing whether it is RAT or RT-PCR. Today, the accent is on upping Covid vaccine shots as it should be but let us not forget, too, that testing is a vital part of the arsenal in the war against Covid.