THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At a time when the state is worried about community transmission of Covid-19, its plan to conduct community surveillance came a cropper due to the unavailability of rapid antibody test kits. However, Indian Council of Medical Research deputy director Dr Raman Gangakhedkar said that a validation exercise is currently on for three indigenously-developed kits. According to him, there will soon be a decision on the kits developed by Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology and HLL Lifecare Ltd.
He said this while attending an online interaction conducted by the state Health Department. Said Dr B Ekbal, who heads the expert panel that advises the government on prevention of Coronavirus, “The state had meticulously worked out a plan to deal with community transmission. A couple of proposals was also there from the Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies and the National Institute of Epidemiology. Unfortunately, rapid antibody kits are unavailable.”
“What is needed is validation. Once it is received, all the three are ready to market their products. In fact, SCTIMST says it has the capacity to manufacture 75 lakh kits a month, enabling us to even send them to other states,” he added. Earlier, attending the interaction, Gangakhedkar said that India has evolved a strong Covid- 19 testing regime over the past three months and the country is now in a position to ramp up tests up to 1.25 lakh a day in the government sector.