A method to detect COVID-19 which will significantly reduce the cost of testing, making it affordable for a large population in the country, developed by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi has got the approval from ICMR, officials said on Thursday.

IIT Delhi is the first academic institute to have obtained ICMR approval for a real-time PCR-based diagnostic assay.

"The test method has been approved by ICMR. The assay has been validated at ICMR with a sensitivity and specificity of 100 percent. This makes IITD the first academic institute to have obtained ICMR approval for a real-time PCR-based diagnostic assay," a senior official told PTI.

Using comparative sequence analyses, the IITD team identified unique regions (short stretches of RNA sequences) in the COVID-19 and SARS COV-2 genome.

Support the daily wage earners who have been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 crisis. Click here to contribute to the cause. #IndiaGives

The daily News18 Coronavirus COVID-19 newsletter - Get your copy here.

Subscribe to News18 Daybreak. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, TikTok and on YouTube

First Anniversary Offer: Subscribe to Moneycontrol PRO’s annual plan for ₹1/- per day for the first year and claim exclusive benefits worth ₹20,000. Coupon code: PRO365