Rapid test kits in use out in the field

Health Dept To Recheck No. Of Kits Needed

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:19.04.2020

The directorate of public health has distributed the much awaited rapid antibody testing kits for screening of patients with influenza-like illness in hotspots in Chennai, Salem and Coimbatore. The results are being put together at Covid-19 control room, while at the back office, senior officials are re-evaluating orders placed for three lakh kits, so they can rework the price and reconsider the number of kits required.

On Saturday, after Chhattisgarh health minister T S Singh Deo tweeted that his state was procuring more than 75,000 rapid testing kits at ₹337+ GST from a South Korean firm, opposition parties and activists said TN paid ₹600 for each kit.

The state, which planned to test all people with symptoms of influenza-like illness, placed orders in instalments. Orders for the first batch of 50,000 kits were placed with Chinese company Wondfo at ₹600 a kit on April 3, a day after ICMR’s nod. The orders were placed through Kodambakkam-based Shan Biotech and Diagnostics. “At that time, seven companies were cleared by the ICMR which fixed the price. On April 6, we ordered another 50,000 kits from the same manufacturer. On April 16, more companies were added and pricing became competitive. There were tax waivers from the government,” Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC) managing director Dr P Umanath told reporters. “We have the kits in our hands while others don’t.”

The state now has 24,000 rapid testing kits from China and 12,000 from the Centre.

The TNMSC is talking to vendors to revise pricing and is also studying if so many kits are required. The state initially said it would test one with influenza-like illness with the rapid test before sending him/ her for RT-PCR tests.

On Friday, the ICMR said rapid antibody test was needed only in hotspots for surveillance and not as a diagnostic tool. In hotspots, RT-PCR test is used on people showing symptoms for less than week; antibody test on those showing symptoms for more than a week. “People testing positive for the infection in the rapid test will be subjected to RT-PCR test for confirmation,” said director of public health Dr K Kolandasamy.

National Institute of Epidemiology resources will also be used for random tests to check for community transmission. While NIE may use the kits in “hot” and “cold” spots to study prevalence of the disease, a doctor said no one in a hotspot will wait for seven days after onset of symptoms. “We will use PCR tests on everyone. So many rapid kits may not be required.”


SHORTER WAIT: Healthcare professionals use a rapid testing kit imported from China to screen a patient for Covid-19 at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital