COVID-19: Rapid Antigen home test kit gets approval; Check out the detailed guidelines on who can use it and how

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday, May 19, gave a green signal to Rapid Antigen kits that helps to conduct the COVID-19 test at home.

ICMR, which is the nodal body in the fights against coronavirus, has also issued detailed guidelines on who can use it and how.

As per the advisory, the use of RATs at home is advised only in symptomatic individuals and immediate contacts of laboratory-confirmed positive cases.

However, the top medical body has advised against the indiscriminate use of the kit in testing.

The ICMR also made it clear that all individuals who test positive may be considered as true positives and no-repeat testing will be done. All symptomatic individuals who test negative by RAT should get themselves immediately tested by RT-PCR.

𝐈𝐂𝐌𝐑 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃-𝟏𝟗 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 (𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐬). For more details visit https://t.co/dI1pqvXAsZ @PMOIndia #ICMRFIGHTSCOVID19 #IndiaFightsCOVID19 pic.twitter.com/membV3hPbX

— ICMR (@ICMRDELHI) May 19, 2021

ICMR has approved the Rapid Antigen Test Kit of Mylab Discovery Solutions Limited, Pune. Mylab has developed the CoviSelfTM (PathoCatch) COVID-19 OTC Antigen LF device. The test kit will be priced at INR 250 and available in a pack of one. If you get a Rapid Antigen Test from the lab it currently costs INR 150.

Coming back to home testing, it should be conducted as per the procedure described by the manufacturer in the user manual.

Step by step guide on how to use home testing RAT kit:

• Users need to download the Mylab app from Google Play Store or Apple Store to conduct a test at home. Testing can be done according to the procedure given in this app.
• The mobile app will provide detailed information for the testing process and will give an accurate result whether the patient is negative or not.
• All users are advised to click a picture of the test strip after completing the test procedure with the same mobile phone.
• The data in the phone will be stored on a secure server connected to ICMR's Covid testing portal.
• ICMR has assured the patients that their privacy will be maintained at this time. Home test kits are expected to reduce stress on laboratories.
• The kit comes in a pouch containing a nasal swab and a pre-filled extraction tube and one test card.
• Without touching the swab head, insert the swab inside both the nostrils up to 2 to 3 centimetres. Roll the swab five times inside each nostril.
• Dip the swab in the tube, pinch the tube at the bottom and swirl the nasal swab 10 times to ensure that the swab is immersed well in the tube.
• The swab has to be broken from the breakpoint. Covering the tube, two drops have to be added to the test kit by pressing.
• One has to wait for 15 minutes for the results to appear. Any result appearing after 20 minutes is considered invalid.
• After 15 minutes is completed the app will ring and the result will be available on the app.

According to reports, in the last 24 hours, 20,08,296 samples have been taken and a new record has been set. However, looking at the figures, it is clear that the country is not conducting tests at its full capacity at present. With a capacity of 33 lakh tests per day, an average of 18 lakh tests are being conducted in India.