The Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) in Thiruvananthapuram has developed a rapid antibody test kit that can detect the presence of the novel coronavirus within just 15 minutes. Medical tests using the kit is likely to get started within 10 days.
This will be a significant development and India will be able to do rapid testing in the coming days. The current kits which are being used will cost around Rs 4000 while this newly developed kit will just cost 380 Rupees. The kits that are being currently used are imported from other countries and so their availability is limited.
The ICMR approval is pending for this kit and is likely to be obtained in this week. Once the approval comes, the production of the kits will soon begin at Ubio biotechnologies in Kochi. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of cases in India stands at 3,374.
Unofficial numbers say that the number will be more than 3700 if not more.
