New Delhi: Amid complaints about faulty rapid test kits, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) advised states Tuesday not to use them for the next two days. ICMR said it will issue an advisory after their teams carry out field validation of the equipment.
Faulty kits
ICMR’s Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar was asked about the faulty rapid testing kits during the daily briefing to the media.
“We have received complaint 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,” Dr Gangakhedkar told reporters.
“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.
Dr Gangakhedkar said that the government has created a portal with the master database of healthcare professionals and volunteers. “Till now, details of 1.24 crore human resources of various kinds have been added to it,” he informed.
Details of corona warriors in 20 categories and 49 sub-categories are available on the portal said Dr Gangakhedkar. These persons can contribute to COVID-19 management efforts, he informed.
New cases and death toll
Lav Agrawal, the Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry, told the press conference that 18,601 positive cases have been reported in India. As many as 3,252 people have been cured till now, he said.
Agarwal also stated that in the last 24 hours, 1,336 new COCID -19 cases has been reported across the country. Forty seven persons have fallen victim to the disease, the Health Ministry official said. The new deaths took the toll past the 600-mark. Currently the total number of people who have died due to coronavirus stands at 603.
PTI