Pvt labs roped in, mass testing is still far away

THE PRIMARY CRITERIA FOR THE LABS THAT WILL BE APPROVED ARE FOR THEM TO HAVE NATIONAL ACCREDITATION BOARD FOR TESTING AND CALIBRATION ACCREDITATION, A MINIMUM OF LEVEL -2 IN TERMS OF BIOSAFETY, AND A REQUIREMENT THAT THEY WILL SHARE REAL-TIME TESTING DATA WITH THE GOVERNMENT

To be sure, many of these are laboratory chains with branches across Indian cities, including Delhi.

“Our people are looking at the requests made by private labs; about 60 labs have approached ICMR for registration, and six labs have been approved so far. It is a dynamic numbers as approvals are being given in batches based on their fulfilling the necessary requirements,” said Dr Balram Bhargava, director general, ICMR. The private laboratories will add to the country’s testing capacity. Currently, 116 government laboratories have been approved to test for Covid-19. Together, they have the capacity to test for around 10,000 samples a day (which can be doubled without too much difficulty, some experts said).

However, the government has no plans of changing the testing criteria at the moment. “Indiscriminate testing is not the solution; the solution lies in isolation to break the transmission cycle, which is why lockdown is a pertinent step,” said Bhargava.

Since mid January, India has tested about 17,000 samples, which , as an average of the total population, is far lower than many other countries battling the outbreak.

“It is not to say that we won’t be expanding our testing criteria. It’s an evolving situation and we have an expert committee constantly reviewing the situation. If they feel the need in future, the criteria could be changed,” Bhargava added.

The primary criteria for the labs that will be approved are for them to have National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration

accreditation, a minimum of level -2 in terms of biosafety, and a requirement that they will share real-time testing data with the government . The private labs will have to acquire their own kits (approval is contingent to them having the kits) and test patients on the basis of a prescription signed by a qualified physician who has followed testing criteria laid down by ICMR.

The base price should not exceed ~4,500, including ~1,500 for preliminary testing and ~3,000 for confirmatory testing, although the government has requested the private firms to offer to test for free.