ICMR changes protocols, asks states to go for blood tests

New Delhi: In a move aimed at scaling the testing at the mass level, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) changed the testing protocol and advised the states to go for antibody tests (or blood tests) in areas that are emerging as Covid-19 hotspots. Following the rise in Covid-19 positive cases after Tablighi Jamaat fallout, the decision to allow antibody tests was taken at an emergency meeting of the national task-force held to finalise the recommendation for testing on Thursday.

According to experts, the antibody test is as simple as blood glucose test conducted through glucose meter. At a time, when Covid-19 suspects are increasing, the move would ensure faster detection of all possible cases in 20 existing and 22 potential hotspots.

At present, the test used is PCR (polymerase chain reaction) that identifies the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the throat/nasal swab samples of people with symptoms or high-risk individuals such as health workers and family members.

"Population in hotspot areas may be tested using a rapid antibody test. And antibody positives to be confirmed by RT-PCR (reverse transcription-PCR) using throat/nasal swab and antibody negatives to be quarantined at home," said the interim advisory issued by the ICMR. The results of anti-body tests come in just 15-30 minutes, while the results of PCR tests take up to five hours to confirm whether the sample is negative or positive.

According to experts, if a person tested positive in the antibody test, the throat/nasal swab of that person would be sent for RT-PCR test and the negative cases would be quarantined at home.

However, states like Maharashtra Kerala, Tamil Nadu, etc are all set to conduct rapid Covid-19 tests.