Centre To Increase Daily Covid Testing Capacity To 45 Lakh By June End, More Self-Test Kits To Get Nod

New Delhi: The Central Government is aiming to increase the per day number of Covid-19 tests to 45 lakh by the end of June, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said on Thursday, adding the target is to is to do 25 lakh tests by the end of this month.

Dr Bhargava said the self-test home kits will contribute to this process, adding another three kits are likely to get the nod soon.

“For home testing for Covid-19, one company has already made the application and three are in the pipeline. Within a next week, we should have another three companies,” Dr Bhargava told a media briefing here.

“Step 1 is that you buy the test kit from a chemist. Step 2 – download mobile app. Step 3 – conduct the test at home. Step 4 – click mobile image and upload, test result will be given. Within three to four days, this should be available in the market,” he added.

The ICMR Director General said labs are working round the clock to meet the increased testing demand though the workforce of testing laboratories has been hit by the infection.

Talking about the continuous increase in the number of tests, Dr Bhargava said if the case positivity rates of April and May are compared then there has been a sharp fall as the weekly positivity rate of Covid-19 was 15 percent between May 13 and May 19.

He, however, added the testing number will go up unless the positivity rate comes down to five percent.

The ICMR Director General further said more of Rapid Antigen Tests should be done because you can get the results rapidly and then isolate the patient quickly.

Commenting on the doctors already prescribing 2-DG, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), for Covid treatment, Dr Bhargava said: “DRDO’s 2-DG drug is a repurposed medicine, not a new medicine. It was earlier used for cancer treatment. Its trial results have been given to the DCGI.”

READ: Govt Asks States, UTs To Notify Covid-Triggered Black Fungus Under Epidemic Disease Act

Earlier on Monday, the first batch of anti-Covid drug 2-DG was released by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

Speaking at the launch, Dr Vardhan said the drug will be the “first indigenous research-based outcome” to fight the virus and will “reduce recovery time and oxygen dependency” in the country.

This came as the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) had earlier this month approved the oral drug for emergency use as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe Covid-19 patients.

Meanwhile, Union Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal informed that eight states in the country have more than one lakh active cases, nine states have between 50,000 to one lakh active cases and 19 states have less than 50,000 active cases.

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