NEW DELHI: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has not made payments to companies whose test kits were found faulty, informed Government. ICMR had asked States to stop usage of rapid testing kits of COVID-19 for at least two days as they were giving inaccurate results.
https://twitter.com/PIB_India/status/1254732645595901955
Meanwhile, as of now, 6,184 people have been cured from coronavirus with a recovery rate of 22.17%. Since yesterday, an increase of 1396 new cases has been reported. A total of 27,892 people have been confirmed positive as of now for COVID-19 in India, informed PIB.
Addressing the media, ICMR Chief Scientist Raman Gangakhedkar had earlier said, “We had received complaints from one State on Monday. On Tuesday, we asked two more States if they also experienced the problem. The difference in results of RT-PCR positive samples is huge, 6 to 71 per cent, at some places. We have advised States to halt its use for two days.”
A lot of variations were observed in results of positive samples, tested by RT-PCR which was not good, he said and added, the ICMR would be in a position to give any advisory in at least two days.
The reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a laboratory technique combining reverse transcription of RNA into DNA and amplification of specific DNA targets using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
The kits would be tested and validated by the on-ground teams instead of labs as Covid-19 was a new disease and the testing kits required to be refined, he said.
When West Bengal accused the ICMR of sending faulty kits, it refuted the charges saying the kits should be stored in below 20 degree Celsius temperature to get accurate results. It also said if the variation in results was not big then there was no need to worry.
But now the ICMR has said any new observation about the testing kits would not be taken lightly and would be cross-checked thoroughly.
Meanwhile, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch — economic wing of RSS — will kickstart a campaign from Sunday to boycott Chinese products, it said. Though it has been a stated position of the organisation for long, but it assumes new significance in view of worldwide allegations against China for not doing enough to warn about the coronavirus outbreak, besides sending out faulty testing kits.
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