Aakancha Shaw, St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata
On Wednesday, the ICMR issued an advisory for the use of a home testing kit for Covid-19. This home testing kit is the rapid antigen testing kit developed and validated by Mylab Discovery Solutions, named “Coviself Covid19 OTC Antigen LF device”. Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has also approved the market availability of this home-based test kit.
The ICMR advised that the COVID-19 home testing kit should only be used by people who have symptoms (symptomatic individuals) and the people who have had immediate contact with laboratory-confirmed positive cases. The ICMR also discouraged the use of indiscriminate testing. The Indian council of medical research also confirmed that individuals who test positive on the rapid antigen testing kit might be considered as positive individuals and repeat testing or laboratory testing is not required. They also made it clear that the individuals who test negative on the rapid antigen testing kit but are symptomatic do have chances to be positive for the virus and should go for the RT PCR test immediately. The test can show a negative result even if one is symptomatic because the Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) might show a false negative presenting with a low viral load. All RAT negative but symptomatic individuals are to be considered positive suspects for COVID-19. They are to follow the isolation guidelines and protocols while waiting for the RT PCR test results.
By using the rapid antigen testing kit people can collect their own nasal swab and check for themselves if they have contracted the virus, within few minutes. This testing kit – CoviSelf Covid19 OTC Antigen LF device would not be available in the market right now but would be widely available very soon.
ICMR declared that the mobile application (home testing mobile application) named Mylab Coviself would be available for both Android and iOS users and must definitely be installed by all users. The mobile application would work as a comprehensive guide for the testing procedures and will provide the patient with the information on whether they are positive or negative for the Covid 19 virus. Also, the ICMR advised all the users to click a picture of the test strip after they have completed the entire procedure for the test. The entire data of the mobile application would be captured and monitored centrally in a server (secured server) that is connected with the COVID 19 testing portal of ICMR. It is here where the information would be stored. They also made it clear that and assured the patient that their confidentiality will be fully taken care of. The application- Mylab Coviself is where one needs to report the results after conducting the test.
Hence, we can proudly say that the Mylab Discovery Solutions along with the approval of ICMR paved the way for an extremely easy testing method for the deadly coronavirus.
Also read: Coronavirus gene remains in human DNA after the infection is over
Image source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/icmr-approves-mylabs-covid-19-self-testing-kit-coviself-7322605/
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