The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR,) on the 27th of April, asked state governments to stop using rapid test kits for the Novel Coronavirus infection from China.
Kits from China based company Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech and Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostics are showing wide variations. Due to the variations in results the ICMR asked the state governments to stop using the COVID-19 Antibody rapid blood test kits for Coronavirus.
This official advisory to state governments was made after many Indian states reported faulty kits and variations in results.
The ICMR said, “The results showed wide variation in their sensitivity, despite early promise of good performance for surveillance purposes,” The ICMR issued a letter also regarding the same.
The state governments were asked to return all the faulty kits to the suppliers, which would be sent back as the Union Government did not make any payment for the kits,
The Indian Government exported approximately 5 lakh Rapid Test kits.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases reached 28,196 with 887 deaths till date in India.
Stay tuned for further updates.