Faced with the upsurge in Covid-19 instances in the second wave and to meet the urgent have to have to ramp up testing, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday liberalised import of testing kits into the nation. Real-time RT-PCR and RAT tests authorized by worldwide agencies have been exempted from validation in India. The Drugs Controller General of India will accord advertising and marketing permission in India on the basis of their current approvals, Balram Bhargava, secretary, division of wellness investigation and director basic, ICMR, mentioned at a media briefing of the ministry of wellness and family members welfare.
Bhargava mentioned the approvals have to be from worldwide agencies such as USFDA, European CE/IVD, ministry of meals and drugs security South Korea, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency Japan, Therapeutic Goods Administration Australia, Brazil ANVISA and WHO Emergency Use Listing process. These authorized tests can now be imported and marketed in India.
The government has also decided to rationalise RT-PCR test in favour of the Rapid Antigen Test (RAT). The suggestion so far had been to conduct 70% RT-PCR and 30% RAT but now the government has permitted for boost in RAT to allow early detection and isolation of positive instances, he mentioned. Further RAT booths will be permitted at all government and private wellness care facilities and no accreditation would be essential to set these up, Bhargava mentioned.
The national Covid-19 positivity price was at 21% and 310 districts had been reporting more than the national typical positivity price, he mentioned. The nation had a capacity to carry out 16 lakh RT-PCR tests per day and 17 lakh RAT with labs working 24×7. There are 2,520 Covid-19 government and private molecular testing labs in the nation.
The nation had been carrying out on an typical about 16 lakh to 20 lakh tests per day in the April-May period and recorded the highest single-day test in the world on April 30, 2021 with 19.45 lakh tests. The nation had performed 30 crore tests from July 2020 till May 7, 2021.
Under the new strategy, the government would enable various 24×7 booths to be set up in cities, towns and villages in schools, colleges, neighborhood centres, offices and resident welfare associations. PPP models would be encouraged to establish practical testing centres.