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Covid-19 update: Tamil Nadu govt concerned China fails to deliver Rapid Test Kits on time
The kits were expected to arrive by April 9, state officials had earlier reported.
Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary told reporters at a press conference on Saturday that the rapid testing kits (RTK) ordered from China had not yet been received. Speaking after a state cabinet meeting K Shanmugam said that a limited number of companies made RTKs, and China has already sent 50,000 kits to the United States of America on a priority basis.
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“We had placed an order of 1 lakh kits even before the Union government had told us to,” Shanmugam said. “A few days ago, the CM said that we need more kits as we have to screen more people and areas, so we ordered 200,000 more kits. In all, we have ordered 400,000 kits,” he said.
The kits were expected to arrive by April 9, state officials had earlier reported.
Shanmugam said that the next consignment of kits is expected to reach India, of which 50,000 will come to Tamil Nadu. He did not specify when the consignment is expected.
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On Saturday’s all-CM video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami requested that Rs 3,000 crore rupees be sanctioned so that the state could buyPersonal Protective Equipment and N-95 Masks for healthcare workers, and ventilators for treatment of Covid-19 patients, without delay.
He also requested PCR, rapid test kits should be supplied by the centre in large quantities immediately.
There has been a delay in the arrival of RTKs, or antibody tests, which deliver results within hours as opposed to PCR tests that are currently being used, and which take upto a day to return results.
India ordered 500,000 kits from Chinese suppliers on March 30. Several states are waiting for the kits to arrive and be distributed to them. The states have also been allowed to procure kits on their own -- as Tamil Nadu did.
Separately, state-owned HLL Lifecare is set to start production of 20,000 rapid testing kits a day at its Manesar factory on Monday, Hindustan Times reported on Saturday.
The rapid testing kits, which India expected to arrive on April 5, and then April 8 or 9, will not arrive until early next week, thus delaying the country’s efforts to test widely in containment zones that have seen a lot of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases.
