KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 17

The government will be carrying out coronavirus test of 300,000 people by January 13 through ‘antigen’ method.

The Ministry of Health and Population will carry out antigen test to find out whether virus infection has spread at the community-level. The ministry’s COVID-19 Focal Person Mahendra Prasad Shrestha said employees were deputed across the nation for the test.

Shrestha said antigen test would begin across the nation from Sunday. The test will be carried out at places where there are more than 200 active coronavirus cases, added Shrestha. He also said people in hotspots, big cities, dense settlements would be tested Earlier, the Epidemiology and Infectious Disease Control Division had carried out ‘sero-surveillance’ to find the infection prevalence at the community level.

The antigen test will detect results within 15 minutes, and it does not need a lab to conduct the test.

Division Director Dr Basudev Pandey said eight per cent of people were found infected in the antigen tests conducted in Kathmandu valley.