On Wednesday, the ICMR has approved CoviSelf as Rapid Antigen Test for Covid-19 for self-testing.
Manufactured by Pune-based Mylab Discovery Solution Ltd is priced at Rs. 250 per kit which will show the results within 15 minutes.
“The test kit will be available in the market in about a week’s time. It took us about 5 months to get the product ready. We have priced it at ₹250 per kit which includes taxes. The kit has been designed in a way that is extremely simple to use and it is not a biohazard. There is a disposal bag that comes along for safely disposing off the items after use,” said Hasmukh Rawal, managing director, Mylab Discovery Solutions.
However, ICMR issued an advisory guideline that says, 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,” the ICMR said.
Experts say these home-based tests are useful when a runaway infection pattern is observed. The UK offers two free home tests to its citizens a week to encourage regular testing in order to detect cases early.
