Mon goes for larger and quicker Covid-19 testing capacity

Our Reporter
Dimapur, July 4 (EMN): Five days ago, Mon district had purchased five TrueNat SARS Cov-2 confirmatory test kits (20 tests per kit) ‘to reconfirm’ positive test results via the TrueNat Beta COV test chips.

Speaking to Eastern Mirror, the deputy commissioner (DC) of Mon, Thavaseelan K, informed that the kit is recognised by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which gives accurate results in very little time.

“Many people might test positive through the regular TrueNat testing using TrueNat Beta COV chips but if sent for reconfirmation to ICMR, the result could come as negative. We have seen this in several cases now,” the DC shared, adding that he was also tested negative using the TrueNat SARS Cov-2 confirmatory test.

“The confirmatory test chip is specifically meant for the SARS Cov-2 (Covid-19) while the general TrueNat test can come out as positive for any virus from the coronavirus family; the confirmatory test detects the presence of RdRp gene while the generic TrueNat test detects the presence of E gene which could indicate any coronavirus,” he informed.

“If a test result comes out positive through the regular TrueNat test, we can make sure that it is 100% positive with another test using the confirmatory chip in just about an hour; this will help isolate the positive cases immediately from the negative cases,” said Thavaseelan adding that earlier they had to send it to ICMR for confirmation, which took two to three days.

The DC further informed that 625 Standard Q Covid-19 Antigen Kits of SD Biosensor (a South Korean firm) are being purchased for Mon. This is a strategy recommended by ICMR to ramp up the testing capacity.

“They are diagnostic kits for the qualitative detection of specific antigens to SARS Cov-2 which give us results in 20-30 minutes. We can test samples in large numbers; we specifically plan to use it to test people in containment zones and all frontline workers,” informed Thavaseelan.

He also shared that the district procured the kits through its own resources. He informed that the confirmatory kits were purchased for INR 1,30,000 and the antigen kits for INR 2,95,000.

The kits were purchased using donation by minister in charge of Mon District, P. Paiwang Konyak.