New Delhi, April 27: The Union Health Ministry on Monday released a fact sheet on prices of rapid antibody tests kits amid the rising cases of coronavirus in India and gave reasons why did the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) asked states and union territories to discontinue the use of rapid test kits procured from China. The ICMR mentioned that based on its scientific assessment of kits, they were found under-performing and the order have been cancelled.

The government released a full statement on Monday on the fact sheet of Rapid Antibody tests. Is said, "ICMR's first attempt to procure these kits did not elicit any response from the suppliers. It second attempt got adequate responses. Of these responses, taking sensitivity and specificity in mind, kits of 2 companies (Biomedemics and Wondfo) were identified for procurement. Both had requisite international certifications." ICMR Advisory Asks States Not to Use COVID-19 Rapid Test Kits Procured From China's Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech and Zhuhai Livzon Diagnostics.

Adding more, the statement said that  became exclusive distributor for India for the kit who quoted an all inclusive price for Free on Board (FOB) -- including logistics -- without any clause for advance. Also, the government mentioned about other specific issues related with procurement of kits related with bidding issues and pricing malfunctions.

Here's the fact sheet tweeted by ANI:

Apart from that, the ICMR said that, "After receipt of some supplies, ICMR has again conducted quality checks on these kits in field conditions. Based on the scientific assessment of their performance, the order in question (Wondfo) along with other in respect of another make found under performing have been cancelled."

However, ICMR claimed that no loss was occurred by government of India as It has not made any payment whatsoever in respect of those supplies. It is to be known that The test kits were found to be failing the quality standards in the detailed evaluation conducted by ICMR.

According to the ICMR, the swab testing of patients is the most accurate method to check for coronavirus. However, the state governments had sought the medical body's approval for procuring rapid test kits as well. The latter requires as less as 15 minutes to determine whether a person has contracted the deadly virus. With the test results not being as accurate as the swab tests, the ICMR had asked the states and UTs to use rapid test kits only for surveillance purpose.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 27, 2020 05:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).