Don't use rapid test kits for 2 days, will probe fault: ICMR tells states

A municipal worker walks to deliver vegetables to residents of a restricted area in Kolkata on Tuesday. Pic/AFP

Amid complaints about faulty rapid test kits, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday advised states not to use them for the next two days, saying it will issue an advisory after their teams carry out field validation of these equipment. At the daily government briefing on the Coronavirus situation in the country, ICMR's Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar was asked about the faulty rapid testing kits.

"We have received complaint from a state yesterday and so far discussed with three states. Too much variations have been reported in results of rapid test kits and RT-PCR kits. We advise states not to use them for the next two days," he said. "These kits will be tested and validated in the field by our teams. We will issue a clear-cut advisory in two days. If problems are detected in batches, we will tell the companies for replacement," he said.

He said that a total of 4,49,810 samples for COVID-19 infection have been tested till Tuesday of which 35,852 were done on Monday. As many as 29,776 samples have been tested in 201 labs under the ICMR network, and 6,076 at 86 private laboratories, he said.

The Chairman of the 4th Empowered Group (to tackle COVID-19) said that the government has created a portal with the master database of healthcare professionals and volunteers.

"Till now, details of 1.24 crore human resources of various kinds have been added to it," he said. Details of Corona warriors in 20 categories and 49 sub-categories, who can contribute to COVID-19 management efforts, are available to states and union territories on the portal, he said. Lav Agrawal, the joint secretary in the Health Ministry, told the press conference that 18,601 positive cases have been reported across the country so far. As many as 3,252 people have been cured till now, he said, adding 705 of them recovered on Monday. "This takes our recovery percentage to 17.48," he said.

Assaults, arrests and deaths amid COVID-19

Workers wearing protective suits prepare food packets to distribute among needy people arranged by the district administration in Srinagar, on Tuesday Pic/PTI

. In a heart-wrenching incident, a 12-year-old girl collapsed and died of sheer exhaustion after walking for three days continuously covering 100 kilometres from Telangana back home to Chhattisgarh during the national lockdown.

. The TMC on Tuesday dubbed as "adventure tourism" the visit of two central teams to West Bengal for an on-the-spot assessment of the COVID-19 situation, and asked why such delegations were not sent to states with much higher numbers of infections and hotspots.

. A 35-year-old man died allegedly after he was assaulted by the police for violating lockdown norms in Guntur Rural on Monday. The deceased has been identified as Shaikh Mohammed Ghouse.

. The National Fisherfolk Forum (NFF) on Tuesday urged the Central and Tamil Nadu government to take steps to bring back 400 fishermen from the state stranded in Andaman.

. An Allahabad university professor has been arrested along with 29 persons, including 16 foreign participants of Tablighi Jamaat meet at Nizamuddin in New Delhi, an official said on Tuesday.

. The Rajasthan government on Tuesday stopped using the China-made rapid testing kits for Coronavirus after they delivered inaccurate results. The state's health minister, Raghu Sharma said the kits gave only 5.4 per cent accurate results against the expectation of 90 per cent accuracy and therefore the kits were of no benefit.

. Some Infosys techies, spread across the globe, have tested COVID-19 positive, according to the software major on Tuesday.

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