ICMR plans to scale up antigen-based testing
Experts say point-of-care test can determine an infection within 30 minutes
antigen detection tests are considered “truly positive” for Covid-19 but those who test negative must go for an RT-PCR test for re-confirmation.
RT-PCR, or reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, tests for the genetic material of the Sars-cov-2 virus.
But RT-PCR testing is limited in terms of widespread availability because of the need for a specialized lab for analysis, and it takes about five hours to get results .
Delhi was the first state to roll out antigen-based testing as Covid-19 cases soared in the past two weeks, making it imperative to conduct large-scale quick testing to trace, treat and isolate the infected individuals. ICMR provided 50,000 kits to the Delhi government, and has asked other states to start antigen-based testing. Uttar Pradesh has already started the antigen tests
On Sunday, the sole approved manufactuer of the antigen tests, South Korean SD Biosensor, said daily production had exceeded 200,000.
The ICMR and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, validated the Standard Q Covid-19 Ag detection kit by SD Biosensor about two weeks ago.
“We are already producing about two lakh kits in a day, and even started supplying to eligible hospitals,” said CS Bedi, medical advisor, SD Biosensor.
A section of private players complained of lack of availability of the antigen kits.“there is just one company that is approved; we would need more if they want widespread testing,” said a representative of a private lab who did not want to be identified.
Bedi, however, said there was no shortage of testing kits. “We only sell to NABH [National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers]and NABL [National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories]approved hospital and standalone labs as that is mandatory requirement of the government. We are guided by the government directive, and are being extremely careful to not sell the product to someone who may sell it further to people who are not eligible to use it,” said Bedi.
On June 25, the ICMR released a document where it detailed the need for rapid antigen tests to massively scale up testing capacity as the number of Covid-19 cases rise and lockdown restrictions are gradually relaxed.
“As India is lifting lockdowns in various parts of the country in a phased manner, it is expected to see an upsurge in cases of Covid-19 due to increased transmission of SARS-COV-2 virus. In view of this, it is important to scale up testing capacity to the maximum possible levels,” the document said.
“The gold standard RT-PCR diagnostic test for Covid-19 has limitations in terms of widespread availability. In view of this, there is urgent requirement of reliable and convenient rapid point of care antigen detection assays with high sensitivity and specificity,” added the document, while inviting applications from manufacturers who produce antigen-based kits.
The ICMR has approved seven institutes for validating antigenbased test kits.
NEW DELHI: Air India, Indigo and Go Air will conduct 612 flights between July 3 and July 15 under the fourth phase of the Vande Bharat Mission. Air India will fly 114 flights while Indigo and Goair will operate 457 and 41 flights respectively as part of the evacuation mission.
Under the fourth phase of the mission, Air India will operate 114 flights to India from 17 countries, Canada, the US, the UK, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Thailand, South Africa, Russia, Australia, Myanmar, Japan, Ukraine and Vietnam, according to the airline’s document accessed by the news agency PTI. Air India’s chartered flights are scheduled to be operated between July 3 and 15, the aforementioned official document stated. It said the airline will fly 31 flights from the US and 19 flights from the UK. Earlier, a document of Air India had said that it will operate a total of 170 flights to and from 17 countries.
Private airlines like Indigo and Goair will also play a major role in the fourth phase of the mission.in a tweet on Sunday evening, the Civil Aviation Ministry said, “Private Airlines will have significant participation in Phase-4 of VBM. Among others, Indigo will operate 238 flights from Qatar & 219 flights from Kuwait; while Goair will operate 41 flights from Kuwait. Number of pvt carriers, flights & destinations likely to increase.”
The government started the mission to evacuate stranded Indians from abroad on May 6. Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Air India is scheduled to operate 272 chartered flights in the third phase, which began on June 10 and will end on July 4. The first phase started from May 7 and ended on May 16.
The US Department of Transportation announced on June 22 that it has barred Air India from operating chartered flights between India and the United States from July 22 without its prior approval, in an apparent retaliation to the Indian government for not allowing American carriers to operate between the two countries.on June 23, the aviation ministry said that it was considering establishing “individual bilateral bubbles” with the US, the UK, Germany and France, allowing airlines of each country in the pact to operate international passenger flights.
After nearly two months of suspension to combat the coronavirus outbreak, the government resumed scheduled domestic passenger flights from May 25 but in a curtailed manner and by placing lower and upper limits on airfares depending upon the flight duration.
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on June 20 said that the government will start thinking on resuming scheduled international passenger flights in mid-july, when it expects the domestic air traffic to reach 50-55 per cent of the levels before coronavirus.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said last Friday that it is extending the suspension of scheduled international passenger flights till July 15, but added that some international scheduled services on selected routes may be permitted on a case-to-case basis.