New Delhi: A new test kit, ‘OmiSure’, to detect Omicron variant of COVID-19, has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Manufactured by Tata Medical and Diagnostics, the kit can detect SARS-CoV2 in nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal specimens and give results in just four hours.
The kit that currently being used to detect Omicron variant in India is developed by US-based scientific instrumentation company Thermo Fisher. It uses the S Gene Target Failure (SGTF) strategy to detect the variant.
A total of 2,135 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected across 24 states and UTs, out of which, 828 have recovered or migrated, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday.
In Odisha too the cases surged to 61 with 24 new Omicron cases confirmed.
Also Read: Omicron Tally Surges To 61 In Odisha; Majority Local Contacts
The test run time of this kit is 85 minutes. The result turnaround time, including sample collection and RNA extraction, is 130 minutes. Currently, all tests across the globe employ either SGTF or SGMA, but this unique test design combines both.
Therefore, it has two checks in place for Omicron detection without compromising the ability to detect other SARS-CoV-2 variants, said the Tata Medical and Diagnostics team.
