ICMR: 70L test kits ordered, expected to reach anytime

Sushmi Dey | TNN | Apr 15, 2020, 06:41 IST

NEW DELHI: Amid concerns over availability of diagnostic kits required for testing for Covid-19, the Indian Council Of Medical Research (ICMR) said it has ordered 33 lakh RTPCR testing kits and 37 lakh rapid antibody diagnostic kits are expected any time. The rapid testing kits, to be used in hotspots along with PCR tests, have been delayed for some time now. They were to reach last week, then early this week and are now said to be arriving on Wednesday.
“Yesterday, we said we have kits that could last for six weeks. We have received another instalment for RT-PCR kits which are far more sufficient in numbers,” ICMR head of epidemiology and communicable diseases R R Gangakhedkar said. “We are ordering close to 33 lakh kits for RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) and 37 lakh rapid kits are expected to come at any point in time.”
Officials from ICMR and the health ministry maintained that testing has to be driven by process and only those who require or fit into the eligibility criteria should be tested. “Testing kits have to be used properly,” health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said.