COVID-19: States advised against using rapid testing as complaints on faulty kits mount

COVID-19 Live: More than 18,600 cases in India, including 5 Keralite nurses in Delhi
A medic shows a sample for COVID-19 rapid tests at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital during the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, in Chennai, Saturday, April 18, 2020. Photo: PTI/R Senthil Kumar

The nationwide tally of confirmed COVID-19 infections neared 20,000 in India with new cases being reported from various states and death toll crossing 600, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, India's apex medical research body ICMR has advised states to stop using the rapid antibody test kits for next two days till it examines their quality in the wake of complaints that they are not fully effective.

Last week, India procured five lakh rapid antibody test kits from two Chinese firms and they were distributed to several states reporting rising cases of coronavirus infection.

Rajasthan government on Tuesday said that the kits were giving out inaccurate results.

At a press briefing, Head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at Indian the ICMR, Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, said the companies which supplied the kits will be asked to replace them if the kits are found to be faulty.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been the nodal medical body in the country's fight against the pandemic.

"We have received complaint from one state and so far discussed the issue with three states. High variations ranging from 6 to 71 per cent have been reported between the results of the rapid tests and RT-PCR tests. We will advise states not to use these testing kits for the next two days," he said.

These kits will be tested and validated in the field by teams from our eight institutes after which we will issue a clear-cut advisory for the states. If there is some fault in the batch, we will ask the company to replace the kits," Gangakhedkar said.

COVID-19 tally nears 20,000 in India

Health Ministry officials said the recovery rate has improved to 17.5 per cent and a record number of 705 patients were cured and discharged on Monday itself.

Overall, more than 3,800 persons have been cured and discharged so far, while there are more than 15,000 active cases in the country now, as per figures announced by various state governments.

Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said a total of 705 people have been cured so far and the overall recovery rate in the country has risen to 17.48 per cent.

In its evening update, the Ministry said the death toll has risen to 603 and the number of positive cases has gone up to 18,985 across the country. This included 15,122 active cases, as on 5pm Tuesday.

However, a PTI tally of numbers reported by various states and union territories put the nationwide tally of positive cases at 19,867 with at least 646 deaths and 3,801 recoveries.

Among the states, Maharashtra reported more positive cases from Dharavi slums of the state capital Mumbai, while Uttar Pradesh saw its tally increasing by more than 100 to close to 1,300.

Maharashtra has already reported more than 250 deaths, while Gujarat has lost 90 lives. Madhya Pradesh has also reported at least 80 deaths.

The number of confirmed cases in Maharashtra has crossed 5,200, the highest in the country and including more than 3,400 in Mumbai itself. Delhi and Gujarat have reported more than 2,000 positive cases each, while the number has crossed 1,500 in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh.

Globally, the coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 1.7 lakh people, including over 42,000 in the US. Nearly 25 lakh infections have been reported worldwide so far, even as there are fears that the actual tally could be much more as tests are so far limited to serious or symptomatic cases in most countries.

In a press briefing, the World Health Organisation also warned against any rush to ease coronavirus restrictions, saying any such move could result in a resurgence of the disease.

The WHO said governments across the world need to remain vigilant to stop the deadly virus spread and lifting of lockdowns and other social distancing measures must be done gradually.

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