Orders placed for 5 lakh rapid antibody testing kits for conducting COVID-19 tests: ICMR

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday said that an order has been placed for 5 lakh rapid antibody testing kits for conducting COVID-19 tests and 2.5 lakh kits will be delivered by April 9.

"An order has been placed for 5 lakh testing kits for COVID19. 2.5 lakh kits to be delivered on April 8 or 9 as promised by the company," ICMR's R Gangakhedkar told reporters here when asked about rapid antibody testing kits for conducting COVID-19 tests in hotspots.

When asked about the coronavirus testing capacity per day, he said: "We have been saying that our current capacity is 13,000. If we do it in two shifts. It can be increased to 25,000. If we use all our resources, then it will be increased to such a level that the people don't have to care about testing."

Earlier, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Joint Secretary Lal Aggarwal said that 1,445 cases out of a total of 4,067 cases are related to Tablighi Jamaat gathering.

"693 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number to 4,067 in India out of which 1,445 cases are related to Tablighi Jamaat," Aggarwal said.