Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on May 19 approved the country’s first Covid-19 self-testing kit for home use. It means, now anyone can collect their own nasal sample and test it for SARS-CoV-2. Called CoviSelf, it has been developed by MyLab Discovery Solutions, a Pune-based molecular company. It uses a rapid antigen test, in which a nasal swab sample is tested for the virus & gives results within 15 minutes. Taking the test takes hardly two minutes. This testing kit costs Rs 250, while RT-PCR test costs between Rs 400 to Rs 1,500 & a rapid antigen test in laboratory costs Rs 300-900 in different states. Kits will be available in the market by the end of next week. ICMR has advised this test only for those who have symptoms or are high-risk contacts of positive patients and need to conduct a test at home. If positive, the person will be considered Covid-19 positive and will not require RT-PCR as a confirmatory test. This test is synced with a mobile app, CoviSelf, which will help directly feed the positive case’s report on the ICMR portal. Watch the video to know more.
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