The Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) recent directive to stop using rapid testing kits from China has thwarted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) bid to buy similar kits from a firm in the State.
Though the BMC had made an initial payment of ₹38 lakh through corporate social responsibility funds, it has decided to scrap the order after the ICMR directive. The BMC has now taken back the advance.
Inaccurate results
About five lakh rapid testing kits from two Chinese firms arrived in India last month, but there were complaints of ‘wide variation’ in the accuracy of their results. On April 27, ICMR ordered States to stop using the kits.
Joint municipal commissioner Ashutosh Salil confirmed that the BMC will not be going ahead with the order because “there are a few issues with rapid kits in general”. The National Institute of Virology in Pune had approved the sample kits and the final kits also needed approval before their roll-out.
The BMC has also been in talks with Chinese and South Korean firms to procure rapid testing kits.
The BMC had planned to use finger-prick tests for its asymptomatic healthcare workers as there is no provision to test them using the real-time polymerase chain reaction test.