India, which is under the largest lockdown in the world, is readying to undertake a massive testing programme to identify COVID-19-positive cases after the 21-day period ends in a move that public health experts have been calling for.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) sought quotations earlier this week from suppliers for a million antibody kits (for screening through blood tests) and also 700,000 RNA extraction kits (the swab-based test for confirming COVID-19). As on Friday, a total of 157 laboratories were gearing up for testing — of these around 121 are government labs (109 are functioning and 12 are