Faulty Rapid Test Kits: ICMR Asks States Not To Use Them For Two Days

New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday advised states not to use rapid test kits for the next two days amid reports of their being faulty, reported PTI.

ICMR will issue an advisory after their teams carry out field validation of the equipment.

Replying to questions about the faulty rapid testing kits during the daily briefing to the media, ICMR’s Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar  said, “We have received complaints from a state yesterday (Monday) and so far discussed it with three states. Too many variations have been reported in results of rapid test kits and RT-PCR kits. We advise states not to use them for the next two days.”

“These kits will be tested and validated in the field by our teams. We will issue a clear-cut advisory in two days. If problems are detected in batches, we will tell the companies for replacement,” he added.

Dr Gangakhedkar said that a total of 4,49,810 samples for COVID-19 infections have been tested till Tuesday of which 35,852 were done Monday. As many as 29,776 samples have been tested in 201 labs under the ICMR network and 6,076 at 86 private laboratories.

It may be noted that Odisha received 6000 kits and began rapid antibody tests in Bhubabeswar from Sunday with city legislators among the first to be tested. 

On April 5, out of a consignment of about 1,70,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits received from China, around 63,000 did not meet Indian standard criteria. However, a reputed newspaper reported that the ones which failed the quality checks, were given to the Indian government as donations by private companies. The kits were sent to the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior, for quality testing. A PPE kit consists of masks, eye shields, shoe covers, gowns, and gloves, which doctors wear while treating coronavirus patients.

Meanwhile, China has asked all the countries to import these items through reputed Chinese firms cleared by the government and vowed to punish those involved in counterfeit behaviour, said media reports