THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the sudden surge in Covid cases and more people developing symptoms, self-testing kits have become the most sought-after item during the third wave. It is estimated that around six lakh people have used the kits in the past two weeks across the state. The kits are helping families go for self-isolation if tested positive, and also end the quarantine if the results are negative, without having to go to a lab for testing.
“Covid self-testing kits and paracetamol tablets were the most sold items in the past one week. A case of fever, sore throat and cough in the neighbourhood is enough for people to keep a self-testing kit ready. We have sent multiple orders to meet the demand,” said the owner of a pharmacy in Thiruvananthapuram.
The kits were introduced in the market in June last year and it became an instant hit among the people in cities. Later, the sale picked up in the rural areas, as the state continued to witness a large number of cases after the peak of the second wave in May last year.
“The sale of test kits had declined to 50,000 in December. However, around 4 lakh kits were sold in January, especially in the past two weeks. The demand first picked up in Thiruvananthapuram from January 10,” said Antony Tharian of Trust Pharmaceutical Group, a major distributor of self-test kits in the state.
High demand for Covid self-testing kits upsets private laboratories
“When demand increased, more distributors came into the scene. The sale of the kits would have easily crossed 6 lakh by now,” he added. Apart from over the counter purchase, the kits can be bought online. At present, there are three ICMR-approved self-testing kits available in the market. Covi- Self (`250 -- from Maharashtrabased Mylab), CoviFind COVID- 19 rapid antigen self-test (`250 -- from Piramal Pharma) and Panbio COVID-19 test (`325 -- from US-based Abbott).
As per the purposive testing guidelines, testing is done for early detection of symptomatic cases for quick isolation and care. The focus is on early detection of infection in elderly and people with comorbidities. The kits are used for conducting rapid antigen tests and results are available in 15 minutes. They offer a cheaper alternative as most government testing centres, where testing is done free of cost, have become crowded and it takes at least three days for the results to come.
Meanwhile, the demand for self-testing kits has upset the private laboratories who are allowed to conduct only RT-PCR test. “The government did not allow us to conduct antigen tests saying they were not reliable. But at the same time it has no problem with the sale of antigen self-testing kits. The people who conduct the test at home do not report the result and are not included in the government data,” said C Balachandran, president, Medical Laboratory Owners’ Association.
According to him, the government has imposed stringent conditions for swab collection, reporting of test results and waste disposal on private labs. But such conditions are not followed in the case of self-test kits, he said. The government imposed a ban on antigen tests in September last year, leaving around 1,000 labs out of business.
However, health experts point out the need to allow antigen tests in labs to let people get quick results. Dr G S Vijayakrishnan, member of the Kerala State Medical Counciland state president of Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA), said there are plans to use antigen tests widely. “We may need more antigen tests at the community level.
We have limited facilities to conduct RT-PCR tests and get the results in 3-4 days,” he said. The proportion of antigen tests in total Covid tests conducted in the state has increased from 24% on January 1 to 42% on January 22. “Testing is important as only when a member tests positive does the family become more serious about following Covid protocol,” Dr Amar Fettle, state nodal officer for Covid and H1N1.