ICMR to States: “Stop Using Rapid Test Kits for 2 days”

On April 21, the Indian Council of Medical Research directed the states to stop using rapid test kits for 2 days. The order comes after several states started complaining about faulty kits.

Highlights

The GoI had received around 3 lakh COVID-19 rapid testing kits from China. The plan is to import around 6,50,000 kits from China. However, the states have been complaining that the kits are producing faulty results. Hence, Government of India has ordered to stop using COVID-19 rapid antibody test kits.

The kits were showing variations ranging between 6% and 71%

About tests

Currently Government of India is using Polymerase Chain Reaction test to detect COVID-19. This takes four to five hours to obtain results. However, on the other than the rapid antibody tests takes around 15 to 30 minutes to obtain the results.

GoI imported these kits from China mainly for surveillance. The test kits were recommended to be used in hotspot areas.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2020