- Rapid Antigen Kits to conduct Covid test at home got a green signal
- The Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) on Wednesday issued an advisory for the Covid-19 home testing kit
- An individual will be able to test himself or herself without the presence of any medical professional.
- All those who test positive do not require additional testing as this self-testing will be considered as true positives.
New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) on Wednesday issued an advisory for Covid-19 home testing where an individual will be able to test himself or herself without the presence of any medical professional.
Giving details of how to conduct this test, the ICMR said that it has approved one kit called CoviSelf for the purpose of home testing. An only a nasal swab will be required for this rapid antigen testing.
Rapid Antigen Kits to conduct Covid test at home got approval from ICMR
Rapid Antigen Kits to conduct Covid test at home got approval on Wednesday. And the Indian Council of Medical Research the nodal body in the fight against the virus issued detailed guidelines on who can use it and how. It is advisable for an individual to read all guidelines carefully before using Covid-19 Home Testing Kit.
The ICMR has made it clear that only symptomatic individuals and immediate contacts of people who tested positive in the laboratory should use the home test. “Indiscriminate testing is not advised,” the top medical body said.
“All individuals who test positive may be considered as true positives and no-repeat testing is required. All symptomatic individuals who test negative by RAT should get themselves immediately tested by RTPCR,
– ICMR
“All individuals who test positive may be considered as true positives and no-repeat testing is required. All symptomatic individuals who test negative by RAT should get themselves immediately tested by RTPCR,” the ICMR said.
The CoviSelfTM (PathoCatch) COVID-19 OTC Antigen LF device was created by the Pune-based Mylab Discovery Solutions Ltd. The home test should be conducted according to the process detailed in an app, which should be downloaded from the Google play store and Apple store, the ICMR said.
The mobile app is a comprehensive guide of the testing procedure and will provide a positive or negative test result to the patient.
– icmr
“The mobile app is a comprehensive guide of the testing procedure and will provide a positive or negative test result to the patient. All users are advised to click a picture of the test strip after completing the test procedure with the same mobile phone,” the ICMR said.
The data from the phone will be centrally captured in a secure server which is connected with the ICMR COVID-19 testing portal, where all data will be eventually stored.
The medical body also assured that patient confidentiality will be fully maintained.
The home test kits are expected to take some of the pressure off laboratories.
How to use Covid-19 Home Testing kit
- With the Covid-19 Home Testing kit, a manual will come describing the entire process. The ICMR too gave the video links for the convenience of users from where one can see the steps to be followed.
- The Covid-19 Home Testing kit comes in a pouch containing a nasal swab and a pre-filled extraction tube and one test card.
- For the test, the users will have to download the mylab app on their mobile phones, where the credentials have to be filled in.
- Without touching the swab head, insert the swab inside both the nostrils up to 2 to 3 centimeters. Roll the swab five times inside each nostril.
- Dip the swab in the tube, pinch the tube at the bottom and swirl the nasal swab 10 times to ensure that the swab is immersed well in the tube.
- The swab has to be broken from the breakpoint. Covering the tube, two drops have to be added to the test kit by pressing. One has to wait for 15 minutes for the results to appear. Any result appearing after 20 minutes is considered invalid.
- At 15 minute, the app will ring and the result will be available on the app.
- The ICMR in its guideline said that the data on the mobile app will be centrally connected to a secure server that is connected with the ICMR Covid-19 testing portal. There is no threat to patient confidentiality, the ICMR said.
- All those who test positive do not require additional testing as this self-testing will be considered as true positives. Those who test negative may opt for RT-PCR testing. Such negative but symptomatic individuals may be treated as suspect Covid-19 cases.
- Manufacturer’s instruction must be strictly followed for disposal of the test kit, swab, and other materials
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