China Exports Faulty Covid-19 Rapid Test Kits To India: ‘Stop Using’, Says ICMR

New Delhi: China made rapid testing kits for detecting Covid-19 have failed to give authentic results. The development has come as another embarrassment for China as the country has already at the receiving amidst similar news coming in from several European countries. Soon after the Rajasthan government made an announcement that it would not be using these rapid test kits imported from China kits citing inaccuracy in outcomes, the Indian Council of Medical Research has recommended all the states not to use these kits for 2 days.

Only 5.4% accuracy in testing

R Gangakhedkar of ICMR in a press statement said, “States advised not to use rapid testing kits for two days. A lot of variations, kits will be tested and validated by on-ground teams and we will give advisory in the next 2 days.” Notably, earlier today, Rajasthan had said that these kits from China provided only 5.4 percent accurate results.

The government was expecting an accuracy of 90 percent. Its health minister argued that these kits are of no benefit. After nearly three lakh rapid testing kits were received by Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan from Guangzhou, China, Ashok Gehlot le government kicked off testing from these kits on Friday in the state’s hotspots, starting Jaipur, the Economic Times reported.

PPEs imported in the past failed the quality test

The Rapid testing kits were gaining popularity given its lesser time for the detection of suspected coronavirus patients in comparison to the swab-based tests carried out in pathology labs. Perhaps this is not the first time that there have been cases of faulty medical equipment. Last week, India junked thousands of thousands of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) test kits which came from China as they failed the quality testing.

Out of around 1,70,000 PPE kits that were imported from China on April 5, close to 50,000 failed quality tests and were dumped. Moreover, several European countries including Turkey, Spain, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic also complained of receiving defective kits from China.