Covid-19 self-testing kit to be in market next week: Here is how to use it
Mylab Discovery solutions has launched the Covid-19 self-testing kit. Each kit will cost Rs250 once it hits the market in 3-4 days, the company said.
A home-based coronavirus (Covid-19) testing kit by Pune-based company Mylab Discovery Solutions was launched in India a day after the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) gave its nod for its use. The kit, called CoviSelf, will be available in the market next week and it will cost ₹250.
The kit comprises of a pre-filled extraction tube, a sterile nasal swab and one test card.
Watch: How much will self-test kit cost? ICMR DG explains how to take test
Mylab is currently manufacturing seven million test kits per week, it said in a statement. The firm aims to ramp up production after the kit hits the market, and produce about 10 million tests per week in the next 14 days, it added.
Explaining how to use the kit, ICMR chief General Balram Bhargava said it is an easy, secure and quick process. "It takes two minutes to conduct the test and 15 minutes to get the result," he said.
Here is how to use CoviSelf:
- Buy the test from a chemist shop and download the mobile application.
- Register yourself on the application and read the user manual carefully.
- This process ensures patient confidentiality as their data is stored in a secure server which is linked to the ICMR database, Dr Bhargava said.
- The kit will use only nasal swab to find out the presence of the infection.
- A test card - part of the kit - will have two bars named C (control) and T (test).
- If the bar at C section changes colour, the test is negative. If the bars at both the sections change colour, the test result is positive.
- A positive test will take 5 to 7 minutes, whereas a negative result will appear in 15 minutes, according to Hasmukh Rawal, managing director, Mylab Discovery Solutions.
- Conduct the test and upload the image on the application. The application will then reflect the results.
- In an advisory, ICMR has said only symptomatic patients and immediate contacts of people who tested positive for the virus should use the home test kit.
- Patients whose result comes out positive will have to follow the ICMR and health ministry guidelines.
According to the ICMR chief, the kits will hit the market in the next three to four days. "Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) home testing kits for Covid-19 will be available in the market in three to four days. It will help in isolation of patients during initial stages of the infection as it gives quick results," he said at a media briefing on Thursday.