Faster testing device will boost screening at 18 medical colleges in Maharashtra

PUNE: Rapid antigen testing kits will now allow state government-run medical colleges across Maharashtra to scale up Covid-19 testing, officials said.
The Department of Medical Education and Research (DMER), which oversees the work of the 18 government medical colleges in the state, has allowed their attached hospitals to procure antigen kits to test individuals who may have Covid-19.
Frontline doctors at these units will now also be able to quickly screen general patients coming in for procedures.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had approved the procurement of antigen kits from a South Korean firm on June 15.
“On June 23, the state government allowed use of the kits at the 18 medical colleges. We have asked the colleges’ attached hospitals to procure the kits on their own and to start using them on patients for free,” Tatyarao Lahane, director of the DMER, told TOI.
The ICMR has said that once a sample is collected in the virus transport media (VTM), it will be stable only for an hour.
“Therefore, the rapid antigen tests need to be conducted at the site of sample collection,” the agency said in an advisory.