The COVID-19 task force in Karnataka will be placing orders for one lakh antibody test kits for the novel coronavirus from Sino-Biocan, a Beijing-based company, in the next three days, as per a report in the Deccan Herald.
This was decided at the task force meeting on Friday, 27 March with the company CEO.
Dr CN Manjunath, director, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences said, who is a member of the task force said that the kits can be expected to be ready in ten days.
Immediate Results
The test is expected to save the government a lot of time because it gives immediate results. It can be used to screen all quarantined individuals in the state.
The report also quotes Dr V Ravi, HoD, Virology who is also part of the task force as saying that this particular test kit could detect almost 90 percent of COVID-19 patients, and the rest can be diagnosed a few days later when the viral load increases.
"It is a European Union certified antibody kit. Right now, I do not know of any other manufacturer in India who makes these kits but the technology is age-old. We have been using the same kit for testing HIV, Hepatitis B and other viruses. Even the pregnancy test is based on the same technology -Immunochromatography."
The test works by detecting antibodies that are generated to fight the strain of coronavirus.
(With inputs from Deccan Herald)
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