Mumbai19 minutes ago
- copy link
BMC officials say that the sale of home testing kits has increased by 100 percent.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is worried about the decrease in corona cases in Mumbai amid the third wave of infection. BMC officials say that sales of home testing kits have gone up by 100 percent and due to this many cases are not being reported. To curb this, BMC has issued new guidelines on Friday.
The new order directs those responsible for manufacturing, supplying and selling home antigen testing kits to email details of the same to BMC officials and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a prescribed format every day. The order said that the labs or individuals are required to report the results of all COVID-19 tests conducted using Rapid Antigen Test Kits or Home Test Kits to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) through mobile applications.
The BMC has said that in some cases the results of home testing kits have not been communicated to the ICMR, making it difficult to track the infected and increasing the number of infections.
under new guidelines
- Manufacturers and distributors of home testing kits have been asked to submit details about the number of kits sold to chemists and medical stores in Mumbai to the FDA commissioner and BMC.
- Chemists and medical stores have been directed to email the details of the test kits to be sold to the customers in the prescribed format daily by 6 pm.
- The FDA commissioner will oversee the distribution and sale of the kits to all chemists and medical stores in Mumbai and ask them to inform customers to report the test results on the given app.
This is how home testing kit will be monitored
- The role of BMC’s epidemiology cell and ward teams has also been defined. The epidemiology cell will have to monitor the data received through email from manufacturers, distributors, chemists, pharmacies, medical stores and other sources.
- It has to be forwarded to the concerned ward and medical officers of health for further action.
- Ward teams will ensure that people upload their results on the ICMR website or application and monitor the health of patients.
That’s why Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) is necessary.
On the new guidelines of BMC, Dr. Tripti Gilada, Infectious Disease Specialist of Masina Hospital, Mumbai said that it is true that the widespread use of Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) and its non-reporting is not showing us the true picture of the current wave. Most people with symptoms are not getting tested and many are already doing RAT at home. In fact, the situation is so serious that RT-PCR takes about 72 hours and by the time the result is known, the infection has spread. RAT is a good thing in such a situation, but reporting it is necessary.