Take a self covid test at home! ICMR approves Covid-19 home testing kit, Know more-
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New Delhi, May 20: Widening the scope of COVID testing in the country and making it easier, the Indian Council for Medical Research has approved the home testing rapid antigen testing kit "Coviself" - a test kit developed by Pune-based Mylab Discovery Solutions.
ICMR has also issued the advisory, on how and who should use the test kits at home. This test is authorized for non-prescription home use with self-collected nasal swab specimens from individuals aged 18 years and older or with adult-collected nasal swab samples from individuals aged 2 years or older.
Who can use it?
According to the ICMR it should be used only on symptomatic individuals and on the immediate contacts of laboratory-confirmed positive cases.
How does it work?
For the first, the user may need to download the mobile app, which provides a comprehensive guide of the testing procedure and will provide a positive or negative test result to the patient. With help of the Coviself kit, the person has to collect their own nasal swab as per the procedure described by the manufacturer in the user manual. After completing all procedures result will be provided on the app.
ICMR has further advised clicking a picture of the test strip after completing the test procedure with the same mobile phone which has been used for downloading the mobile app and user registration.
"Data in the app of your mobile phone will be centrally captured in a secure server which is connected with the ICMR COVID-19 testing portal, where all data will be eventually stored. Patient confidentiality will be fully maintained," the advisory underlined.
What next?
According to the ICMR, all individuals who test positive through the RAT kit may be considered as true positives and no-repeat testing is required.
Meanwhile, the who are symptomatic however tested negative by RAT should get themselves immediately tested by RTPCR as the RATs are likely to miss few positive cases presenting with a low viral load.
ICMR also warned that indiscriminate testing is not advised and that the COVID home testing should be conducted as per the procedure described by the manufacturer in the user manual.
Price of the test kit-
The test kit will be priced at Rs 250 and available in a pack of one.