The Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction test costs around Rs 1,500 rupees and CARD test, Rs 500.
In a letter to the state chief secretaries on Monday, ICMR Director General (D-G) Dr Balram Bhargava said the COVID-19 diagnostic supplies are stabilising because of the indigenous production of the kits.
IIT Delhi is the first academic institute to have obtained the ICMR approval for a real-time PCR- based diagnostic assay. The development also comes against the backdrop of the Indian Council of Medical Research halting the testing for COVID-19 cases through China-made test kits because of massive variation in test results, compounding the challenge to check and contain the pandemic.
Named after 'Feluda', the detective character in legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray's stories, the test has been developed by Debojyoti Chakraborty and Souvik Maiti as a simpler way of detecting SARS-coV2 presence in clinical samples, IGIB Director Anurag Agarwal said.
The decision to open Kartarpur shrine was taken by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday due to the approaching death anniversary of Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak Dev on September 22.
The Corosure Kit has received ICMR approval with the highest score and DCGI approved with a very high sensitivity and specificity.
Here is all you need to know about the virus, its symptoms and how you can prevent it.
President of Public Health Foundation of India, Professor K Srinath Reddy said that India may see COVID-19 cases peaking as early as in two months if there are strong public health measures and people take all precautions like wearing face masks and maintaining physical distance.
Cadila, Biocon developing rapid antibody testing kits; Eris, Mylan, Gland importing. There are two kinds of testing for the novel coronavirus - the real-time polymerase chain reaction test kit that uses throat or nasal swabs and provides results in a few hours, and the other is antibody-based rapid testing kit that use blood samples and provides results in a few minutes.
Thackeray directed officials to ensure that people follow health norms like wearing masks, and that violators be fined.
The ICMR said people having symptoms like fever, cough, sore throat and runny nose and residing in hotspots or cluster areas and in evacuee centres will now be tested for coronavirus infection.
A set of seven symptoms, considered together, can be used to maximise detection of COVID-19 in the community, according to a study.
This is the third consecutive day when COVID-19 cases increased by more than 45,000.
The ICMR has approved over 200 labs (both public and private) for COVID-19 testing through-PCR machines.
As many as 1,578 dedicated COVID hospitals are providing quality medical care.
'What the northern Indian states lack is responsive politics based on the principles of development, social justice and equality.' 'A cut-and-paste job cannot make up for such lethal deficiency,' observes says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The ICMR has already approved a bunch of rapid test kits for launch. The health ministry admitted that clusters of COVID-19 had appeared in many states and the risk of further spread remains very high.
Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute, Zydus Cadila, Panacea Biotec, Indian Immunologicals, Mynvax and Biological E are among the domestic pharma firms working on the coronavirus vaccines in India.
It took 110 days for the COVID-19 cases in the country to reach one lakh and just 59 days more to go past the nine-lakh mark.
Experts say a large part of the expenditure in April was spent on heads such as creating infrastructure for testing capacity and procuring testing kits, among other things.
'We are going to be overwhelmed by the need for hospital beds. There are simply not enough beds in government hospitals.' 'We will need a large number of medical professionals and without the private sector's involvement, the government won't be able to expand capacity.'
'The more people get tested, the more people will come under isolation. So the spread will get limited with testing.'
'Every disease has traits and we have found out that actually 99 per cent of people who have got COVID-19, should recover.'
The experts agreed that the lockdown has helped in slowing down spread of the virus but insisted that the situation has not reached a plateau and that there was an urgent need to upgrade healthcare facilities to deal with the crisis.
'This health emergency has brought a lot of people together with the common purpose of getting Feluda to play detective as quickly as possible.' 'As a scientist, if we can make a small difference in people's lives, we are happy'
'A probable positive patient walking into a centre is not an ideal situation.'
'It is not the test, but the symptomatic phase in this disease that really matters.'
'The genetic thing is not in your control. The virulence is not known.' 'The only thing is if you can avoid it.' 'Once you get COVID-19, none of it is in your control.'
'This year, we know the virus. Last year we didn't know anything about it.' 'The best part is that for the Indian population there has been some amount of cross protection.'
'But to see the effects of that, it will take a week or two more.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances