Use rapid antibody tests in hosps, offices, PSUs: ICMR

Use rapid antibody tests in hosps, offices, PSUs: ICMR

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:25.06.2020

To step up surveillance across the country and keep a close check on wider spread of Covid-19, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has expanded its testing strategy and advised use of rapid antibody tests beyond containment zones to cover all hospitals, offices and public sector units.

A comprehensive report of these tests will have to be shared with the ICMR on a regular basis. It will assess the evolving trends of the disease and accordingly advise policy interventions, a new advisory from the ICMR suggesting additional testing strategies said.

“It is advised to enable all hospitals, offices, public sector units etc to perform antibody-based testing. This will help in allaying the fear of healthcare workers, office staff etc,” the ICMR said.

While rapid antibody testing has been recommended only for surveillance and not diagnosis, the ICMR’s new norms also suggest use of the rapid antigen test as point-ofcare tests for early detection, including at all hospitals and labs for diagnosis in combination with RT-PCR test.

The council also asked state governments to deploy a combination of various tests, including CB-NAAT, TrueNat, rapid antigen, antibody and RT-PCR, to prevent spread of the infection.

“Since test, track and treat is the only way to prevent spread of infection and save lives, it is imperative that testing should be made widely available to all symptomatic individuals across the country and contact tracing mechanisms for containment of infection are further strengthened,” the ICMR said.

“ICMR advises all states, public and private institutions to take required steps to scale up testing for Covid-19 by deploying combination of various tests as advised above,” it added.

In a significant ramping up of testing facilities across the country, India tested over 2.15 lakh samples on Tuesday, the highest in a day. The total number of samples tested so far is 73.52 lakh. There are 1,000 labs spread across the country to test for Covid-19.

Recently, the ICMR validated rapid antigen tests, after which they were deployed in Delhi and have been hailed by experts for expediting the testing and isolating process, helping improve the situation in the capital. Rapid antigen test can be carried out onsite and provides results within 30 minutes.

“ICMR recommends deployment of the rapid antigen PoC (point-of-care) test in the following settings: all containment zones identified by states, all government medical colleges and hospitals, all private hospitals, all private labs approved by ICMR as Covid-19 testing labs,” the council said.

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Health workers collect a swab sample to test for the Covid-19 in Amritsar on Wednesday