New Delhi: The government on Tuesday made a rare admission that availability of Covid-19 testing kits is a big issue and there is a shortage. The World Health Organization (WHO) has exhorted countries to "test, test, test" so they know how many people are infected by the pandemic. India is doing 32 tests per million people whereas the United States has carried out 2,600 tests per million people.
The Centre said the rate at which it was procuring was not inflated because it was based on the availability of kits globally.
“The availability of these kits is a big issue and it continues to be a shortage mode. If we have to enhance access of testing, we need to take steps which are prudent," said Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, head of epidemiology and communicable diseases division at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
“At the time we calculated the cost, it was right. But you have to understand that when the bidding process happens and people compete, the prices of kits go up. As and when there is competition in market, prices will fall," he added.
The government's testing strategy has been restricted even after a revision. It allows testing of primarily those who have had a history of international travel and those who have come in close contact with international travellers. Along with this, asymptomatic health workers and patients hospitalised for severe acute respiratory illnesses can also avail testing.
India has so far tested 42,778 samples, with 4,346 of them on Monday. After testing these samples, 1,257 have been found to be Covid-19 positive, 32 have died, and 227 new cases detected since Monday. Gangakhedkar said there are 123 functional government laboratories and only 36% of their capacity has been utilised. There are 49 private labs across 11 states which have been given approval to test samples for Covid-19.
Executives of Navi Mumbai-based private chain of diagnostic and preventive care laboratories, Thyrocare Technologies Limited, said there is a paucity of diagnostic kits used to detect Covid-19.
Speaking to News18.com over phone, Thyrocare Managing Director Dr A Velumani said there is absolute scarcity. "We are struggling with the stock and we have to ration. There are some labs that don't even have a single kit. We are still awaiting stock that was supposed to arrive one or two days ago," he said.
The ICMR has evaluated 17 commercial kits that do not have foreign approval and has validated only three — Altona Diagnostics, Mylab and Seegene. All three had 100% concordance among true positive and true negative samples.
“Only Altona has supplied kits. There is a likelihood that next week will be better," said Dr Velumani.
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