India approves home test for Covid-19, to cost ₹250 per kit

NEW DELHI: India approved on Wednesday the first home test for Covid-19, allowing people to buy a kit that costs ₹250 and gives results within 15 minutes.

The kit, manufactured by Pune-based Mylab Discovery Solutions Ltd, is a rapid antigen test (RAT) that should be used only by those who have Covid-19 symptoms or had close contact with an infected person, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said.

“Indiscriminate testing is not advised. All individuals who test positive may be considered as true positives and no repeat testing is required. All individuals tested positive are advised to follow home isolation and care as per the ICMR and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare protocol,” read the ICMR statement.

Rapid antigen tests are typically less sensitive than the labbased RT-PCR tests, which means they are likely to lead to some false negatives, although experts believe their accuracy increases when the viral load is high – a point when they are also likely to be contagious.

ICMR director general Dr Balram Bhargava, in one of the recent press briefings on Covid, announced that the council was exploring home-based Covid-19 testing solutions.

“The test kit will be available in the market in about a week’s time. It took us about five months to get the product ready. We have priced it at ₹250 per kit, which includes taxes. The kit has been designed in a way that it is extremely simple to use and it is not a biohazard. There is a disposal bag that comes along for safely disposing off the items after use,” said Hasmukh Rawal, managing director, Mylab Discovery Solutions. “A positive test will take about five to seven minutes, and a negative result will take maximum 15 minutes max.”

The pouch comes with a prefilled extraction tube, a sterile nasal swab, one test card, and a biohazard bag. The person undertaking the test will have to download the Mylab Coviself app on their mobile phone.

Experts say these home-based tests are useful when runaway infection pattern is observed. “These tests are used in developed countries such as US and UK. Since these tests have high specificity, it can be used at places where positivity rate is high so as to be able to detect cases early,” said Dr GC Khilnani, former head, pulmonology department, AIIMS, Delhi.